-i2 ,-\-,>^e,
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL
10000621702
EARLY TRAVELS
PALESTINE,
coMPiiisiNa THE narhatives of
ARCULF, WILLIBALD, BERNARD, S^WULF, SIGURD,
BENJAMIN OF TUDELA, SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE,
DE LA BROCQUIERE, AND MAUNDRELL.
EDITED, WITH NOTES,
By THOMAS WEIGHT, Esq, MA, F.SA, &c.
LONDON:
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
MDCCCXLYIII.
TO HIS GRACE
THE LOKD AECHBISHOP OF YOKK,
THIS VOLUME
IS VERY RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
THE EDITOR.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2013
http://archive.org/details/earlytravelsinpaOOwrig
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Introduction by the Editor vii
The Travels of Bishop Akculf, in the Holy Land, towards a.d. 700 1
The Travels of WiLLiBALD, A.D. 721—727 13
The Voyage of Bernard the Wise, a.d. 867 23
The Travels of S^wulp, A.d. 1102 and 1103 31
The Saga of Sigurd the Crusader, a.d. 1107 — 1111 50
The Travels of Rabbi Benjamin, of TuDELA, A.D. IIGO— 1173 63
The Book of Sir John Maundbville, a.d. 1322— 135G 127
The Travels of Bertrandon de la Brocquiere, a.d. 1432 and 1433 283
The Journey of Henry Maundrell, from Aleppo to Jerusalem,
A.D. 1697 383
EEFERENCES TO PLAN OF JERUSALEM,
REDUCED PROM A LARGE PLAN, CONSTRUCTED BY SCHULTZ, PRUSSIAN CONSUL
AT JERUSALEM.
1. Chapel of Scourging.
2. Scala Sancta.
3. Pilate's House.
4. Chapel of Crowning with Thorns.
5. Arch of ' Ecce Homo.'
6. First place where Sinrion carried the Cross.
7. Second do. do.
8. Gate of Judgment (Porta Judiciaria).
9. House of Urias.
10. Bath of Bathsheba.
11. House of the High Priest Zacharias.
12. „ St. Marcus.
13. „ St. Thomas.
14. „ High Priest Annas.
15. „ „ Caiphas.
16. Room in which the Last Supper was instituted.
17. House of the Virgin Mary.
18. Place where St. Peter wept.
19. House of Sta. Anna.
20. „ the Pharisee Simon.
21. Place where Stephen was stoned.
22. „ Jesus sweated blood.
23. ,, the Disciples slept.
24. _,, Judas kissed Christ.
25. „ Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer.
26. „ ,, wept over Jerusalem.
27. ;, the Apostles learned the Creed.
28. Judas hanged himself.
29. Tomb of Jehoshaphat.
SO. „ Absolom.
31. „ Jacob.
32. „ Zacharias.
INTRODUCTION.
The attentive reader of history cannot fail to remark how
often, in the confusion of the middle ages, the very move-
ments or principles which seem in themselves most barbarous,
or are most strongly tinctured with the darkest shades of super-
stition, have been those which, in the sequel, gave the
strongest impulse to the advancing spirit of civilization which
has at length changed that dark past into this bright present
It is in the contemplation of this oft-recurring fact, that we
trace, more distinctly, perhaps, than in any other, the inscrutable
but unerring ways of that higher Providence to whose rule all
things are subjected. Few of those duties enjoined by the
ancient Komish Church were accompanied with, and seemed
to lead to, more abuses and scandals than the pilgrimages to
the Holy Land, so natural an attraction to every Christian ; few
were attended with so much bigotry, and bUndness, and un-
charitableness, or ended in observances and convictions so
grossly superstitious and so degrading to the intelligence of
mankind. Yet it was this throwing of people upon the wide
and distant scene, on which they were forced into continual
intercourse, hostile or friendly, according to the circumstances
of the moment, with people of different manners, creed, sen-
timent, and knowledge, that gradually softened down all pre-
judices, and paved the way for the entire destruction of that
system to which it seemed intended to give support. If the
seeds of civilization ever existed in the cloister, they were
seeds cast upon the barren rock, and it was not until they
were transplanted to another and richer soil, that they began
to sprout and give promise of fruit.
Even in this point of view the narrative of those early pil-
grimages must possess no ordinary degree of interest, and it
gives us no little insight into the history of the march of in-
tellectual improvement to accompany these early travellers in
Vlll INTRODUCTION.
their wanderings, as they have themselves descrihed them to
us, and to watch their feelings and hear their opinions. The
human mind is one of those important objects of study that
we can never look upon from too many standing-places. But
there is another point of view in which the narratives of the early
pilgrims, of which so many have been preserved, are perhaps
still more interesting. That favoured land to which they re-
late, the scene of so many events of deep import to our hap-
piness in this world and in the future, has never lost its at-
tractions, and more steps, as well as more eyes, are now
turned towards it, than in those so-called ages of faith, when
every mile on the road was believed to count in heaven for so
much towards the redemption of the past crimes and offences,
however great, of the traveller. Pilgrims innumerable. still
visit the holy places, with a purer faith and a less prejudiced
understanding, yet with the desire of knowing what others in
past ages saw, which is now not to be seen, or which is seen
under different circumstances ; to know what they thought of
objects which still offer themselves to view ; and to trace in
their successive observations and reflections the gradual develop-
ment of a thirst for discovery and knowledge which has at
length given them the power of being so much wiser than their
forefathers. It was the interest created by the objects these
pilgrims visited personally, and the curiosity excited by the
vague information obtained from intercourse with men who
came from parts still more distant, that laid the first founda-
tion of geographical science, and that first gave the impulse to
geographical discovery.
A comparison of the numerous narratives to which we
allude, places before our eyes the most distinct view we can
possibly have of the various changes which have swept over
the land of Palestine since it was snatched from the power
of the Roman emperors. The more ancient are, of course, the
mostinteresting,becausethey relate to a period when afar greater
number of monuments of still earlier antiquity remained in ex-
istence than it has been the lot of any modern pilgrims to visit,
and the traditions of the locality were then much more deserv-
ing of attention, because they were so much nearer to the time
of the events to which they related. It can hardly be sup-
posed that the Christian inhabitants of Jerusalem and its
neighbourhood, under the Eomans, did not preserve some
INTEODUCTION. IX
authentic traditions concerning the localities of the more
important events of Gospel history.
We have fortunately one document of a very remarkable
character, which has preserved to us the local traditions of the
Christians of Syria under the Romans. It was first brought
to light by the celebrated French antiquary, Pierre Pithou,
who printed it, in 1588, from a manuscript in his own library,
under the title of ^'Itinerarium a Burdigala Hierusalem usque;''
and it was afterwards inserted in the editions of the '^Antonine
Itinerary,'''' by Schott and Wesseling. The author of this Itine-
rary was a Christian of Bordeaux, who visited the Holy Land
in the year 333-^, and it was evidently compiled for the use
of his countrymen. This visit took place two years before
the consecration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built
by the emperor Constantino and his mother Helena. The
compiler of this Itinerary, who is the first traveller to the East
who has left us an account of his journey, departed from Bor-
deaux, then one of the chief cities of Gaul, passed by Aries
and other towns, and crossed the Alps into Italy, which
country he traversed, passing through Turin, Pavia, Milan,
Brescia, Verona, &c., to the then magnificent city of Aquileia ;
thence he crossed the Julian Alps, and passed through Nori-
cum, Pannonia, Illyria, Dacia, and Thrace, to Constantinople,
and thence, after crossing the Bosphorus, he continued his
route through Asia Minor to Syria. Hitherto the Itinerary
is a mere recapitulation of names and distances, but, after his
arrival in Syria, he continually interrupts his bare list of
names, to mention some holy site, or other object which at-
tracted his attention. On his arrival at Jerusalem, he gives
us a long description of that city and its neighbourhood.
From Jerusalem he returns to Constantinople, varying a little
his route, and thence he retraces his steps as far as Hera-
clea in Thrace, where he leaves his former road, passing
through Macedonia to Thessalonica, and thence to Italy,
where he visited Brundusium, Capua, and Rome, and thence
returned to Milan.
* This date is fixed by a statement of the writer of the Itinerary : —
** Item ambulavimus Dalmatio et Dalmaticei Zenophilo cons. iii. Kal. Jun. a
Kalcidonia, et reversi sumiis ad Constantinopolim vii. Kalend. Jan. consule
snprascripto." We know from the historians that Flavins Valerius Dal-
matius (brother of the emperor Constantine) and Marcus Aurelius Xeno-
philus were consuls together in 333.
X INTRODUCTION.
Althougli this Itinerary has come down to us as a solitary-
narrative, we learn from the writings of some of the Greek
fathers, that pilgrimages to the Holy Land had already, at
that period, become so frequent as to lead to many abuses ;
and the early saints' lives have been the means of preserving
to us brief notices of some of the adventures of the pilgrims,
which are obscured by the incredible miracles with which
those narratives abound. St. Porphyry, a Greek ecclesiastic
of the end of the fourth century, after living five years as a
hermit in the Thebaid of Egypt, went with his disciple Mar-
cus to Jerusalem, visited the holy places, settled there, and
finally became bishop of Gaza. St. Eusebius of Cremona,
and his friend St. Jerome, embarked at Porto, in Italy, in June
385, in company with a great number of other pilgrims, and
in the midst of tempests passed the Ionian Sea and the Cy-
clades to Cyprus, where they were received by St. Epiphanius.
They went thence to Antioch, where they were welcomed by
St. Paulinus, who was bishop of that city, and from thence they
proceeded to Jerusalem. After passing some time in the holy
city, and visiting the surrounding country, they went to Egypt,
to visit the hermits of the Thebaid, and then returning, they
took up their abode at Bethlehem, where they founded a
monastery. Nearly at the same time, St. Paula, with her
daughter, left Rome for Syria, and landed at Sidon, where
she visited the tower of Elijah. At Caesarea she saw the
house of the centurion Cornelius, which was changed into a
church, and the house of St. Philip, with the chambers of
his four daughters. Near Jerusalem she beheld the tomb of
Helena, queen of Adiabene. The governor of Palestine, who
was acquainted with the family of St. Paula, prepared to re-
ceive her in Jerusalem with due honours, but she preferred
taking up her abode in a small cell, and she hastened to visit
all the holy objects with which she was now surrounded. She
went first to the church of the Holy Sepulchre, where she
prostrated herself before the true cross, and entered the
sepulchre itself, after having kissed the stone which the
angels had taken from the entrance. On Mount Sion, she
was shown the column to which Christ was bound when
scourged, and which then sustained the gallery of a church.
She saw also the spot where the Holy Ghost had de-
iscended on the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. She thence
went to Bethlehem, visiting on the way tlie sepulchre of
INTEODUCTION. XI
Eachel. At Bethlehem she descended into the grotto of the
Nativity. She next visited the tower of Ader of the Flocks.
At Bethphage, she saw the sepulchre of Lazarus, and the
house of Martha and Mary; on Mount Ephraim, she was
shown the sepulchre of Joshua, and of the high priest Eleazar;
at Sichem, she entered the church huilt over the well of Jacob,
where our Saviour spoke to the Samaritan woman ; she next
visited the sepulchres of the twelve patriarchs ; and, at Se-
baste, or Samaria, she saw those of Elisha and Abdias,
as well as that of St. John the Baptist. To the latter were
brought, from all parts, people possessed with demons, to be
cured. St. Paula went subsequently to Egypt, to visit the
hermits of the desert, whence she returned to Bethlehem,
w4iere she built cells and hospitals for pilgrims, and there
she lived in retirement till her death -i'. St. Antoninus visited
the Holy Land early in the seventh century ; his life contains
some absurd legendary stories relating to the cross, which he
saw in the church of Golgotha ; and he tells that there stood
on one part of Mount Sion an " idol of the Saracens," made
of very white marble (no doubt an ancient sepulchre), which,
at the time of the festival of that idol, suddenly became
black as pitch, and after the festival was restored to its ori-
ginal colour. At Nazareth, St. Antoninus praises the beauty
of the Jewish women who resided there ; and he tells us that
the land round that place was prodigiously fertile, and that it
produced excellent wine, oil, and honey. The millet grew
there to a greater height than elsewhere, and the straw was
stronger. After visiting all the holy places, St. Antoninus,
like all the other pilgrims who went to the east before the
conquests of the Saracens, repaired to Egypt, to visit the her-
mits of the Thebaid. He landed at Alexandria, a very fine
city, the people of which were light in disposition, but friendly
to the travellers who came thither. He saw there, in the
Nile, a multitude of crocodiles, a great number of which were
collected together in a pond. Perhaps this was some remnant
of the ancient worship of the Egyptians. On his return to
Jerusalem, St. Antoninus fell sick, and was received into a
* St. Jerome, in one of his Epistles, has given ns the history of the ad-
ventures of St. Paula. The lives of the other saints mentioned here will be
found in the large collection of the Bollandists. The abstract given here is
taken from the Essay on Early Pilgrimages, by the Baron Walckenaer, in-
serted in Michaud's History of the Crusades.
Xll INTRODUCTION.
hospital destined for poor pilgrims ; lie tlien went into Meso-
potamia, and returned by sea to Italy, his native country.
Soon after this period, the circumstances of the pilgrims
who arrived in the Holy Land were entirely changed, in con-
sequence of the conquests of the Saracens, who, under Omar,
obtained possession of Jerusalem in 637, by a capitulation,
however, which allowed them the use of their churches on
payment of a tribute, but forbade them to build new ones.
This interdiction could not be in itself a great grievance, for
the whole of Palestine must have been literally covered with
churches when it passed under the Mohammedan yoke. The
conquerors soon saw that greater advantages would be reaped
by preserving the holy places, and encouraging pilgrimage,
than by destroying them ; many of them, indeed their own
creed taught them, were to be considered as objects of reve-
rence ; and thus for two or three centuries the Christians of
the west continued to flock to the Holy Sepulchre as nume-
rously as before, subject, perhaps, to not much greater taxation
at the holy places than in former times, but exposed on their
way to more or less insult and oppression, according to the
political or local circumstances of the moment.
Not many years after it had thus fallen under the power of
the Arabs, the Holy Land was visited by a French bishop
named Arculf, whose narrative stands at the head of the
present volume. The French antiquaries have not been
able to discover of what see Arculf was bishop, or when he
lived ; and all that is known of him is the statement of
Adamnan, who wrote down his narrative, that on his return
from the east he was carried by contrary winds to the shores
of Britain, and that he was received at lona. We learn
from Bede-'s that Adamnan visited the court of the Northum-
brian king Aldfrid, and that he then presented to the king
his book on the Holy Places, which he had taken down from
the dictation of bishop Arculf The visit to king Aldfrid is
generally placed in 703, but by an apparent misunderstanding
of the words of Bede, and it is probable that it occurred at
least as early as 701 f. The pilgrimage of Arculf must thus
have taken place in the latter part of the seventh century.
In relating a miracle concerning the sudarium or napkin
taken from the head of our Saviour (which has not been
* Bede, Hist. Eccl. v. 15.
f See my Biographia Britannica Literaria, Anglo-Saxon period, p. 202.
INTRODUCTION. XIU
thought worth retaining in the present translation), Arculf is
made to speak of " Majuvias, king of the Saracens," as having
lived in his time-''^, and the character of the story leaves no
doubt that the king referred to was Moawiyah, the first khalif
of the dynasty of the Ommiades, who reigned from 661 to
679. I am inclined to think that Arculf s visit to Jerusalem
must be placed not long after this khalif s death.
Arculf 's travels, having been reduced to a sort of treatise
by Adamnan, do not always present the exact form of a
personal narrative, and we cannot trace his course from his
native land as we do those of most subsequent travellers.
He seems to have followed in the steps of the more ancient
pilgrims, and his visit to Egypt, with the avowal of his voy-
ages up the Nile, can only be explained on the supposition
that he also went to visit the Coptic monks of the Desert,
who had been allowed to remain there, tributary to their
Arabian conquerors. He either derived little satisfaction
from this visit, or Adamnan considered it as having no
interest for his countrymen; and we find no allusion to the
Egyptian monks in the later pilgrimages. Arculf speaks of
no difficulties he had to encounter, and his narrative is of
especial interest, from the circumstance of his visiting the
country when all the buildings of the Koman age were still
standing.
The narrative of bishop Arculf, besides its intrinsic value
as a minute and accurate description of localities and monu-
ments at this interesting period, is of especial importance to
us, because, through the abridgment made by Bede, it be-
came the text book on this subject among the Anglo-Saxons,
and led to that passion for pilgrimages with which they were
soon afterwards seized, and which was not uncongenial to the
character of that people whose adventurous steps have since
been carried into every corner of the world.
Among the Anglo-Saxons who followed the example of
Arculf, one of the most remarkable, and the earliest of whose
adventures we have any account, was Willibald, a kinsman,
it is said, of the great Boniface, and a native of the kingdom
of Wessex, probably of Hampshire. His father, who appears
to have been of high rank, w^as honoured wdth a place in
the Roman calendar, under the title of St. Richard. Pie,
with his two sons, Willibald and Wunibald, and a daughter,
* Majuvias, Saracenorum rex, qui nostra setate fuit, judex postulates.
XIV INTRODUCTION
afterwards so celebrated under the name of St. Walpurgis,
left England probably in the year 718, and travelled through
the land of the Franks on their way to Italy. At Lucca,
Willibald's father sickened and died ; and, having buried him,
the three children reached Rome in safety, but there they
were seized with a severe fever, on their recovery from which
Willibald determined to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
I have fixed the date of his departure to the year 721, be-
cause that would place his departure from Tyre on his way
to Constantinople, in 724; and I have stated on another
occasion 'i^, that it is in the highest degree probable that the
difficulties Willibald and his companions experienced in ob-
taining a passport, and the troubles they met with in their
departure from Syria, were coincident with the persecution of
the Christian churches in that country in the year just alluded
to, when the khalif Yezid II., at the end of his reign, had
been instigated by the Jews to publish an edict against the
paintings in the churches of his Christian subjects, in conse-
quence of which many of the latter fled their homes. After the
death of Yezid, hostilities recommenced between the Greeks
and the Arabs, and continued during many years ; and it is
evident that the two countries were not yet at war w^hen
the pilgrims left. At the same time, the whole tenor of the
narrative shows that they quitted Syria on account of some
sudden change in the internal state of the country, and that
they Avere anxious to get away, for they came to Tyre at the
wrong season of the year for making the voyage to Con-
stantinople, and they sailed in rough and tempestuous wea-
ther. In 740 or 741, Willibald was consecrated bishop of
Eichstadt, being then forty-one years of age. He died, it
is supposed, in the year 786. His life was written before
his death, by a nun of Heidenheim, of whose name we are
ignorant, but who was his kinswoman, and who took dow^n the
account of his travels, as she avows, from his own mouth.
The war with the Greeks did not, however, put a stop
to pilgrimages from the west, but the travellers now seem to
have been obliged to pass by way of Egypt. The geographer,
Dicuil, in his treatise De Mensura Orbis Terrce, which he
wrote at a very advanced age, in 825, tells us, when speaking
of Egypt, that when a youth at school in France, he heard
a monk named Fidelis give an account of his travels in Egypt
* See the Biographia Britannica Literaria, Anglo-Saxon period, p. 341. 342.
INTRODUCTION.
and the Holy Land, to his master, Suibneus, and, from the
accuracy with which he cites it, he must have taken notes at
the time. He says, that FideHs went with a party of pil-
grims, clerks and laymen, w^ho sailed direct to the mouth of
the Nile, no doubt to Alexandria. Proceeding up the Nile a
long way, they were struck with astonishment at the sight of
the seven "barns" {horrea), built by Joseph, according to
the number of the years of abundance, which looked at a
distance like mountains, four in one place, and three in
another. Curiosity led them to visit the group of three, and
near them they found a lion, and eight men and women, all
lying dead; "the lion had slain them by its strength, and
they had killed the lion with their spears and swords, for the
places occupied by both these groups of barns are deserts."
They found that these buildings, in their w^hole elevation,,
were of stone ; at the bottom they were square, in the upper
part round, and twisted at the summit in a spire. Fidelis
measured the side of one from one angle to the other, and
found it to be four hundred feet. Then, entering their ships
in the river Nile, they navigated direct to the entrance of the
Bed Sea, where they entered a port, not far to the east of
which was the spot where Moses passed on dry land. FideUs
wished to go to this place, where he expected to see the
traces of Pharaoh's chariot w^heels, but he could not prevail
with the sailors to turn away from their own course. He
observed, however, that the sea appeared there to be about
six miles across. They sailed thence, without loss of time,
along the western part of the Eed Sea, or that part w'hich
extends itself in a gulf or bay far to the north. From thence
w^e are left to suppose that they proceeded to Palestine --'. The
barns of Joseph were of course the pyramids, with respect to
the form of the upper part of which the pilgrim might easily
have been deceived ; but it will be at once evident to any
one acquainted with the geography of Egypt, that the channel
by which he passed in a ship from the Nile to the Pied Sea,
was the ancient canal of Hadrian. This canal is said to
have been repaired, and rendered navigable by the Arabs,
not long after they had rendered themselves masters of
Egypt, but we know that it was finally blocked up by the
khalif Abu Giafar Almansor, in 767, to hinder provisions
from being sent to the people of Mecca and Medina, who had
* Dicuil, De Mensuia Orbis, yi. 3, ed. Letronne.
INTRODUCTION
revolted against his authority. It was therefore previous to
this date that Fidelis visited Egypt.
Peace, broken immediately after the departure of Willi-
bald, was not restored till the learned reign of the magnifi-
cent Haroun-er-Raschid (786-809), whose name, and his
friendship and intercourse with the no less splendid monarch
of the west, Charlemagne, have been so often celebrated in
history and romance. Their friendship led to the opening
of Palestine to the Christian pilgrims on much more liberal
terms, and various privileges and comforts were secured for
them in the holy city. Pilgrimages now became more fre-
quent, and several are mentioned during the latter part of
the eighth and the course of the ninth centuries.
The only one of these pilgrims whose own account of his
adventures has been preserved, was a Breton monk, evidently
of the celebrated monastery of Mount St. Michel, named
Bernard, who is distinguished in the manuscripts by the
title of Bernardus Sapiens, or Bernard the Wise, although we
have no other testimony to his wisdom except the account of
his pilgrimage. This very curious narrative was discovered
by Mabillon, in a manuscript of the library of PJieims, and
printed in the Acta Sanctorum Ordinis Benedictini. Bernard
has given, at the commencement of this narrative, the date of
the year in which he started. In Mabillon 's text, and in a
manuscript of the Cottonian Library, now lost, it is 870 ;
while in another manuscript of the Cottonian Library, still
existing, it is given as 970. Internal evidence at once fixes
the date of Bernard's pilgrimage to the ninth century, and not
to the tenth ; and as it is evident that he was at Bari before
the siege by Louis 11. , we can have little hesitation in con-
sidering both the dates given by the manuscripts as errors of
the scribes, and in fixing Bernard's departure to the year 867.
Bernard left Europe at a time w^hen the Saracens of the
west were engaged in hostility with the Christians, and he
was obliged to furnish himself with a variety of protections.
Although he points at the disadvantageous contrast between
the barbarity and turbulence of the western Christians and
the well regulated government of the Arabs in the east, it is
quite evident that a change had taken place in the condition
of the Christians in Syria, and that the pilgrims no longer
enjoyed the immunities obtained for them by the emperor
Charlemagne. They now, on the contrary, seem to have been
INTRODUCTION. XVll
subjected to extortions on every side. Bernard, like Fidelis,
went by way of Egypt, and proceeded thence into Palestine
by land. He is the first traveller who mentions the afterwards
celebrated miracle of the holy fire. At Jerusalem Bernard
lodged in the hostle which had been founded by Charlemagne,
and which was still appropriated to its original destination.
Somewhere near this period a noble Breton of the name of
Frotmond, who, with his brother, had committed one of those
deeds of blood which so often stain the history of the middle
ages, was condemned by the church to a penance, not un-
common in those times. A chain was close riveted round
his body and his arms ; and in this condition, covered only
with a coarse garment, his head sprinkled with ashes, he was
to visit, bare-foot, the holy places, and wander about until God
should deign to relieve him of his burthen. In the fourth
year of his wanderings he returned to France, and went to the
monastery of Redon, where he was miraculously delivered
from his chains, which had already eaten deep into his flesh,
at the tomb of St. Marcellinus. The account of his pilgrimage
was collected from the traditions of the monastery long after
Frotmond's death, by one of the monks. It is said that he and
his brethren went direct to the coast of Syria, and made some
stay at Jerusalem, practising there all kinds of austerities.
They next went into Egypt, and took up their abode among
the monks of the Thebaid, and then went to pray at the tomb
of St. Cyprian, on the sea-coast, two leagues from Carthage.
They then returned to Rome ; but still not obtaining pardon
of the pope (Benedict III.), they again passed the sea to
Jerusalem, from whence they went to Cana, in Galilee, and
then they directed their course to the Red Sea. They next
proceeded to the mountains of Armenia, and visited the spot
where Noah's ark rested after the deluge. On their way they
suffered all kinds of outrages from the infidels, who stripped
them naked and scourged them cruelly. This, however, did
not turn them from their purpose, and they went subsequently to
Mount Sinai, v/here they remained three years, and so returned
to Italy, and thence to France. Frotmond started on his wan-
derings in the year 868.
Other pilgrimages are mentioned as having taken place
before the end of the ninth century, at which time new wars
broke out between the Greeks and the Saracens, in the course
of which the whole of Judea was taken from the Mohamme-
XVm INTEODUCTION.
dans by the emperor John Zimisces, and the holy places were
again thrown open to pilgrims from all parts. On the death
of Zimisces, in 976, the Greek empire again smik into weak-
ness, and Palestine was snatched from them by the Fatimite
khalifs of Egypt, whose policy it was at first to treat the
Christians with lenity, seek commercial relations with the
Franks, and encourage the pilgrimages to the holy places.
But all these fair prospects were soon cut short by the acces-
sion to the throne of Hakem, the third khalif of the Fatimite
dynasty, who threw his kingdom into confusion by his cruel
despotism, and who made the unfortunate Christians feel
the whole weight of his fury. They were everywhere
oppressed and massacred, their churches were taken from
them, profaned, and destroyed, and the holy places were
deserted. During the whole of the eleventh century the
Christians of Syria were thus treated with every kind of
indignity. Pilgrims still made their way to Jerusalem, and a
great number of brief notices of their adventures are preserved
by the numerous writers of the age ; but they brought back
with thom little more than complaints of the profanations to
which the holy places were exposed, and of the wretched con-
dition to which their brothers in faith had been reduced. The
celebrated Gerbert, afterwards pope, under the name of
Sylvestre II., was one of the first who made the pilgrimage
during the persecutions of Hakem; and on his return, in 986,
he published a letter, in which he made Jerusalem deplore
her misfortunes, and supplicated the whole Christian world to
come to her aid. The French and the Italians were excited
to vengeance, and they began to make pilgrimages in armed
bodies, and even to attack the coasts of Syria. This only
served to exasperate their enemies, who interdicted the
Christians in their dominions from the exercise of their
religion, took from them their churches, which they profaned
by turning them into stables and to still more degrading pur-
poses, and threw down the church of the Sepulchre, and the
other sacred places in Jerusalem, in 1008. According to the
best authorities the church of the Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt
by Hakem's grandson, Al-Mostanser-Billah, between 1046 and
1048, in consequence of a treaty with the Byzantine emperor.
The news of these events threw all Christian Europe into
consternation, and excited everywhere the desire for vengeance
on the infidels ; but it increased the eagerness for pilgrimage,
INTRODUCTION. XIX
and, in spite of all the insults and perils to which they were
exposed, devotees of all ranks and conditions made their way
to Jerusalem in crowds. New revolutions were, however,
taking place there; for another people, the Seldjouk Turks,
having rendered themselves masters of Persia, and established
there a new dynasty of monarchs, the iVbassides, passed for-
wards into Mesopotamia, and then conquered Syria from the
Fatimites. The Seldjouks took Jerusalem in 1071, massacred
both Saracens and Christians, and delivered up to pillagers
the mosques as well as the churches. The fate of the pilgrims
under the new rulers of Palestine was more deplorable than
ever. They were not allowed to enter the gates of Jerusalem
without payment of a very heavy tax ; and, as most of them
had been plundered on the way, if they had anything to
tempt the merciless rapacity of the infidels, the greater part
remained outside, to perish by hunger or by the sword. Those
who gained admission into the city only entered to suffer new
outrages, and, which was still worse, to see everything they
held most sacred trodden underfoot and defiled by unbelievers.
The Turks, in their turn, became divided and enfeebled ;
and the Fatimites made a successful effort to recover their
power in Syria. In 1096 Jerusalem was delivered, by capitu-
lation, to the general of the khalif Al-Mostaali-Billeh ; but
the change of masters seems to have ameliorated in no degree
the condition of the Christians.
The cry of the eastern Christians had, however, already
made itself effectually heard throughout Europe. The voice
of Peter the Hermit was first raised in 1095, in the November
of which year he stood by the pope, Urban II., at the council
of Clermont, and the first crusade was proclaimed. The vast
army of invaders assembled in the autumn of 109G, traversed
Europe and Asia Minor, and those who escaped from the ter-
rible sufferings and losses it experienced on the road reached
Palestine in 1099, and took Jerusalem by assault on the 15th
of June. Ten days after the conquerors elected Godfrey of
Boulogne king of Jerusalem.
The first pilgrim who followed the crusaders, who has left
ns a personal narrative, was an Anglo-Saxon named SiEWULF.
Our only information relating to this personage, beyond what
is found in his own relation, occurs in a passage of William of
Malmesbury which appears to relate to him. This writer, in.
B S
XX INTRODUCTION,
his History of the English Bishops -'', tells us that Saewulf was
a merchant who frequently repaired to bishop Wulstan, of
Worcester, to confess his sins, and as frequently, when his fit
of penitence was over, returned to his old courses. Wulstan
advised him to quit the profession in which he met with so
many temptations, and embrace a monastic life ; and, on bis
refusal, the bishop prophesied that the time would arrive
when he would take the habit which he now so obstinately re-
fused. William of Malmesbury says that he himself witnessed
the fulfilment of this prediction, when in his old age the mer-
chant Saewulf became a monk in the abbey of Malmesbury.
It is fair to suppose that, in a moment of penitence, the mer-
chant sought to appease the divine wrath by undertaking the
pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the road to which had then been
laid open by the first successes of the crusaders. Nothing in the
narrative proves that our traveller was a monk.
The date of Saewulf s voyage has been fixed by his learned
editor, M. D'Avezac, from internal evidence of the most satis-
factory kind. Saewulf makes two or three allusions to his-
torical personages in the course of his adventures. Thus, on
his arrival at Cephalonia, he informs us that Robert Guiscard
died there. This celebrated warrior, the first duke of the
Normans in Italy, the father of the celebrated crusader Bo-
hemond, prince of Tarentum, was meditating the conquest of
Greece, when he died, according to some poisoned, in July
1085 f. Further on Saewulf mentions two Christian princes, dis-
tinguished by their activity in the first crusade, as still living ;
Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, and Raymond, duke of Toulouse.
The first was made king on the 25tli of December, 1100, and
the latter died on the 28th of February, 1105. Saewulf men-
tions further, that when he returned from Syria Tortosa was in
the possession of duke Raymond, while Acre still remained in
the hands of the Saracens. The latter place was captured
on the 12th of March, 1102, while Acre did not fall into the
hands of the Christians till the 15th of May, 1104. Now
he informs us further that he embarked at Joppa, on his re-
* W. Malmesbury de Gest. Pontif., p. 282. See also my Biographia Bri-
tannica Literaria, Anglo-Norraan Period, p. 38.
f See, on Robert Guiscard, W. Malmesbury, Hist, book iii. pp. 294, 295.
(Bohn's Antiquarian Library.)
INTRODUCTION. XXI
turn on the day of Pentecost, whicli day in the year 1104 fell on
the 5th of June, and, as Acre had then heen taken, this could
not be the year; and we have only to choose between 1102
and 1103, To remove all doubt on the subject, M. D'Avezac
points out an element of calculation contained in Ssewulf's text,
which enables us to fix the exact date of his departure from
Italy, after having brought it within so small a compass from
the historical allusions. Saewulf says that he set sail from
Monopoli on Sunday, the feast of St. Mildred. St. Mildred's
day is the 13th of July, and that day fell on a Sunday in the
year 1102. It was, he says, an unlucky day — dies ^gyptlaca,
and they fell in with a storm which drove them along the
coast to Brindisi, whence, after a short stay to refit, they
sailed again on an unlucky day. Now the ordinary formula
to find the unlucky or Egyptiac days, composed by the medieval
calculators, give us the 13th and 22nd of July, as falling under
this character. It was, therefore, the 13th of July, 1102,
when Ssew^ulf sailed from Monopoli, and the 22nd of the same
•month when he left Brindisi ; and it was the day of Pentecost,
1103, when he embarked at Joppa, on his return. These
dates wdll agree very well with the age of the Saewulf men-
tioned by William of Malmesbury.
The events preceding, and connected with the crusades, had
considerably modified the route followed b}^ the pilgrims in
their way to Jerusalem. They had previously gone by way of
Egypt, because it was no doubt safer to pass in ships em-
ployed in commerce with the Saracens, or to go with Saracenic
passports from the west, than to encounter the hostile feelings
with which people were received who came into Syria from
the neighbouring territory of the Greeks. But now they
might proceed with greater security through the Christian
states on the northern shores of the Mediterranean, either
visiting Constantinople before they proceeded to Jerusalem,
or, if their eagerness to see the holy city overcame all other
considerations, sailing along the coast of Greece and through
the islands of the Archipelago. The latter course was taken
by Ssewulf ; he sailed from Italy to the Ionian islands; pro-
ceeded overland to Negropont, where he embarked in another
ship, and, after touching at several of the islands, proceeded
along the coast of Asia Minor to Jaffa, whence he travelled by
land to Jerusalem, reserving his visit to the metropolis of the
Grecian empire for his return. The narrative appears to
XXU INTRODUCTION.
be truncated, which lias deprived us of Sse owulf'sbservations
of Constantinople.
Saswulf s account of the disastrous storm which attended
their arrival at Jaffa shows us what multitudes of pilgrims
now crowded to the Holj Land. Among these were people
of all classes, rich and poor, noble and ignoble, laymen
equally with monks and clergy. Some went in humility and
meekness to visit the scene of their salvation, while others,
embarking with crews of desperate marauders, although they
went to the Holy City with the same professions, proceeded as
privateers, or rather as pirates, plundering and devastating on
their way. Among this latter class the descendants of the
sea-kings of the north appear to have been especially dis-
tinguished, and the Scandinavian sagas have preserved more
than one narrative, half authentic and half romantic, of their
adventures. Jt has been thought advisable to give, as a speci-
men of these, the story of Sigurd the Crusader, a northern
prince, whose presence at the capture of Beyrout, in 1110, is
mentioned by William of Tyre.
The land of Palestine was at this time beginning to attract,
in an unusual degree, the attention of another class of travellers
from western Europe — learned men of the Jewish nation — who
were anxious to discover and to make known to their brethren
the condition of the various synagogues in the East, after so
many sanguinary revolutions, as well as to visit the burial-
places of the eminent Hebrews of former days. Several of
their relations, written in Hebrew, are still preserved in manu-
script, and a few have been printed -:-. The earliest of these
of any importance is that of Benjamin of Tudela. We
have an "Itinerary of Palestine " made by Samuel bar Simson
in 1210; a " Description of the Sacred Tombs " by a Jew of
Paris named Jacob, in 1258 ; and several tracts of the same
kind in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Mr. Asher, to whom we owe the best edition of Benjamin
of Tudela, has fixed the date of Benjamin's travels from his own
narrative with great acuteness. It appears from different cir-
cumstances to which he alludes, that his visit to Rome must
* An interesting volume of these narratives, translated into French, and
accompanied with valuable notes, has recently been published under the
title, " Itineraires de la Terre Sainte des xiii^ xiv^, xv^, xvi^, and xvii^ siecles,
traduits de V Hebreu, par E. Carmoly," Brussels, 1847.
INTRODUCTION. XXlll
have taken place subsequent to 1159, that he was at Con-
stantinople probably in December 1161, and that his account
of Egypt, which almost concludes the work, must have been
written prior to 1171^. "If we add to these dates," Mr.
Asher observes, " that of his return, as given in the preface,
we shall find that the narrative refers to a period of about
fourteen years, viz. from 1159 or 1160, to 1173." To tbese
dates pointed out by Mr. Asher, it may be added, that he ap-
pears to have been at Antioch immediately after the accession
of Bohemond III. in 1163 ; and that he probably reached
Siciiy, on his way back, early in 1169. By comparing these
dates with the general course of the narrative, I have en-
deavoured to arrange with tolerable accuracy the successive
years of Benjamin's wanderings; the dates of which are given
at the heads of the pages.
Rabbi Benjamin is the first European traveller whom we
find taking a wider circuit in his travels than that which
would have been restricted by the limits of Christian or
Jewish pilgrimage. As Mr. Asher observes, he appears
evidently to have been a merchant, and hence, though the
object most at his heart seems to have been to note the num-
ber and condition of the Jews in the different countries he
visited, he has preserved some valuable information relating
to their trade and commerce at that period, and, in spite of
some credulity, and an evident love of the marvellous, he de-
scribes what he saw with more good sense and accuracy than
the Christian travellers of the same age. Benjamin, who
was a Jew of Spain, began his travels from Saragossa, and
proceeded through Italy and Greece to Constantinople, which
city he describes at considerable length. He proceeded tbence,
by the Greek Islands, to Antioch, and thence through Syria,
by Acre and Nablous, to Jerusalem. From Jerusalem he
went to Damascus, and from thence to Bagdad, but his route
here and elsewhere appears to have been far from direct, as
we often trace him moving backwards and forwards, to obtain
information, or visit districts that lay out of the ordinary road.
Th6 actual extent of his wanderings towards the East appears
doubtful; but it is certain he remained at Bagdad and in Per-
sia two or three years, and he returned by way of Arabia and
* For these dates seethenotes on pp. 67, 75, and 119 of the present volume.
See the notes on pp. 78, 124.
XXIV INTRODUCTION.
Nubia to Egypt. From Egypt lie returned to Sicily, and
he then made a tour in Germany before his final return home.
Mr. Asher observes that there is "one very peculiar feature "
in this work, by which its contents are divided into luhat he
saiv, and what he heard. " In many towns, on the route from
Saragossa to Bagdad, rabbi Benjamin mentions the names of
the principal Jews, elders, and wardens of the congregations
he met with. That a great number of the persons enumerated b^^
rabbi Benjamin really were his contemporaries ; and that the
particulars be incidentally mentions of them are corroborated
by other authorities, has iDeen proved in the biographical notes
furnished by Dr. Zunz. We therefore do not hesitate to
assert that rabbi Benjamin visited all those towns of which he
names the elders and principals, and that the first portion of
his narrative comprises an account of ivhat he saw. But with
Gihiagin, the very first stage beyond Bagdad, all such notices
cease, and except those of two princes and of two rabbis, we
look in vain for any other names. So very remarkable a dif-
ference between this and the preceding part of the work leads
us to assert that rabbi Benjamin's travels did not extend beyond
Bagdad, and that he there wrote down the second portion of
our work, consisting of ivhat he heard. Bagdad, at his time
the seat of the prince of the Captivity, must have attracted
numerous Jewish pilgrims from all regions, and, beyond doubt,
was the fittest place for gathering those notices of the Jews
and of trade in difi'erent parts of the world, the collecting
of which was the aim of rabbi Benjamin's labours." It may
be observed, further, that the information he thus collected
agrees in general with that furnished by the contemporary
Arabian geographers.
The travels of rabbi Benjamin had little, if any, influence
on the state of geographical science amongst the Christians of
the west; but a variety of causes — the thirst for novelty in
science excited by the educational movement of the tw^elfth
century, scattered information, gleaned from an increased in*
tercourse with the Arabs, and the adventurous spirit raised by
a hundred years of crusades — were now combining to render
them every day more eager for information relating to distant
lands, and this spirit received a new impulse from the asto-
nishment and terror excited by the incursions of the Tartars
in the earlier half of the thirteenth century. Shrewd and
intelligent men were sent out by the monarchs of the west,
INTRODUCTION. XXV
nominally as ambassadors, but really as spies, to ascertain
who these dreaded invaders were, and whence they came, and
to report on their strength and character. These envoys met
at the court of the khan men of distant, and, to* them, un-
known countries, from whom they collected information re-
lating to the central and eastern parts of Asia. Among the
first of these envoys was John du Plan de Carpin, an Italian
friar of the order of St. Francis, sent out by Pope Innocent IV.,
in the spring of 1245. He was followed immediately by Simon
de St. Quentin, a Dominican monk, also sent by the pope ;
and a year or two later, in 1253, by William de Rubruk, an-
other Franciscan, sent on an embassy to the Tartars by St.
Louis. These, as well as other missionaries of the same cen-
tury, have left behind them interesting narratives, several of
which are preserved, and some of them are well known.
Merchants, led by the hope of gain, followed in the steps of,
and even preceded, the political or religious missionaries, and
their objects being less restricted, they often penetrated into
the remotest regions of Asia, where they sometimes settled,
and rose to rank and wealth. One of these, an Italian named
Marco Polo, on his return, after a long residence in Asia,
in the middle of the thirteenth century, published the well
known narrative, which conduced, more than any other work,
to the development of geographical science, and which first
gave the grand impulse to geographical research, that led to
the more extensive and substantial knowledge which began to
dawn in the following century.
From this time, although short descriptions of the Holy
Land became more numerous than ever, travellers who pub-
lished their personal narratives w^ere seldom contented with
the old limits of the subject, but they either visited them-
selves, or described from the information of others, some at
least of the surrounding countries. This was carried at times
almost to the extreme of affectation. A remarkable example
is furnished to us in the book of Sir John Maundeville.
This singular writer, more credulous than the most bigotted
monk, appears to have visited the east mth the double object
of performing the pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, and of
seeking military service in foreign lands. Professedly a guide
to pilgrims to Jerusalem, to which a large portion of the book
is devoted, it contains, nevertheless, the description of nearly
the whole of Asia, and of some parts of Africa and Europe,
XXVI INTRODUCTION.
and extends to countries which its author visited and to
many others which he certainly did not visit. From the rather
equivocal light in which he exhibits himself, and the peculiar
form of his work, it is impossible to trace the course of his
travels, hut he assures us that he set out from England in
1322, and that he returned home and compiled his book in
1356. It appears clear, from evidence furnished by the book
itself, that Maundeville was in Egypt for some time previous
to the year 1342-5^, and a closer examination would probably
fixthe date of his presence in some other countries. But there
can be no doubt that his book is partly a compilation, for we
find him not only borrowing from ancient writers, like Soli-
nus and Pliny, but it is quite evident that he made large use
of the previous narratives of Marco Polo and of the Fran-
ciscan Oderic, who had travelled over a great part of Asia in
the earlier years of the fourteenth century, and had published
his account during Maundeville's absence in the east. It
would not be difficult to analyze a great portion of Maun-
deville's book, and show from whence it was compiled.
It is now generally agreed that Marco Polo originally wrote the
account of his travels in the French language, from which it
was subsequently translated into Latin and Italian. French
had now, indeed, become the general language of popular
treatises, and it seems to be equally well established that in
it was written the original text of Maundeville, who states ex-
pressly in the French copies preserved in manuscript, that
he chose French in preference to Latin, as a language more
generally understood, " especially by lords and knights, and
others who understand not Latin." f We learn, from the
colophon to some of the Latin copies, that he was at this
time residing at Liege, where he is said to have ended his
days, and that he soon afterwards translated his own book
into Latin. An English version, said to be also from the pen
of Maundeville himself, appeared soon afterwards, and the
three versions must have become extremely popular within
* See the note, p. 146 of the present volume.
. f " Et sachiez que je eusse mis ce livre en Latin pour plus briefment
deviser; mais pour ce que plusieurs entendent mieux Fran(jais que Latin,
I'ai-je mis en Hommant a celle fin que chascun I'entende, et les seigneurs et
chevaliers et aultres qui n'entendent pas le Latin." See on this subject,
and on Maundeville's narrative, M. D'Avezac's preface to his edition of "Plan
de Carpin/' pp. 29—33.
INTKODUCTION. XXVll
a few years after their publication, from the number of early
copies that are still found among our various collections of
manuscripts. The travels of Sir John Maundeville form, per-
haps, the most popular work of the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, and it continued long afterwards to be read eagerly
in a variety of forms. Yet all we know of him with any cer-
tainty is his own statement that he was a native of St.
Albans, — the rest of his biography, as commonly given, is a
mere tissue of errors. Bale tells us that he died at Liege,
on the 17th of November, 1371, and that he was buried there
in the abbey of the Guillamites. Abraham Orbelius, in his
" Itinerarium Belgiae," gives an epitaph from that abbey,
which appears to be a comparatively recent fabrication. One
of the manuscripts, written in the fifteenth century, (MS.
Harl. 3989,) says that Maundeville died at Liege in 1382.
Contemporary with Maundeville lived a German named
variously Boldensel, Boldensle, and Boldenslave, who visited
the east in 1336, and, on his return, published a description
of the Holy Land, of which there is an early printed edition.
It had been preceded by the description of the Holy Land
by Brochard, published in 1332. From this time the nar-
ratives of travels in Palestine became much more nume-
rous and more detailed, and I shall not attempt even a bare
enumeration. The majority of them consist of little more
than a repetition of the same facts and the same legends.
Some, however, are far superior to the rest, by the in-
terest of the narrative, and the novelty of the information
gathered by the traveller. Two, belonging to the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries, stand pre-eminent in this respect,
the narratives of Breydenbach and Kauwulf, which merit
separate publication. I have selected to follow sir John
Maundeville, the travels of Bertkandon de la Brocquiere,
on account of their peculiar character.
The Turks, who were gradually overthrowing the empire of
the Arabs in the east, were becoming formidable to the Chris-
tians also towards the end of the fourteenth century. Since
the time of Brochard, who had written expressly to shov>^ how
the east lay open to an attack from the Christians, several
attempts had been made to raise a new crusade. La Broc-
quiere, like Maundeville, was a knight, and he held the high
position of counsellor and first esquire carver to the duke of
XXVlll INTRODUCTION.
Burgundy. As was the case with so many others of his own
class, his pilgrimage to Jerusalem was the result of a vow, but
the curiosity and ardour of the man-at-arms were perhaps
more powerful in him than the mere calls of religion. Pie
left Burgundy in the February of 1482, in company with other
^reat lords of that country, passed through Italy by way of
Home to Venice, and there embarked and proceeded by sea
to Jaffa. But when this holy pilgrimage was completed, as
far as lay in his power to perform it, he undertook a pilgrimage
of another kind, and in order to observe the manners and con-
dition of the Turks, who were already threatening Constan-
tinople, he formed the bold scheme of returning to France
overland, which would lead him to traverse the western part
of Asia and eastern Europe. The notices he has given us of
the countries through which he passed, some of them but im-
perfectly known even at present, combined with the interest-
ing period at which the journey was made, give an especial
importance to this narrative, which is marked by the accuracy
and good sense of its writer, and exhibits none of the cre-
dulity of previous travellers. On his return to the court of
Burgundy, La Brocquiere's appearance excited great interest,
and duke Philip began to talk loudly of his intention to lead
a crusade against the Infidels. It was probably to further
his object that La Brocquiere compiled his narrative, which
was published in French, soon after the year 1488, to which
date he alludes in his text. The state of Europe, howevei%
was not now favourable to a crusade, and the duke's designs
never went further than a few empty proclamations, and some
equally fruitless feasting and pageantry. The Turks were al-
lowed to pursue their conquests, and the victorious Moham-
med 11. became master of Constantinople in the May of
1453.
Our notices of the medieval travellers would properly conclude
here. A new era was opening upon the west as well as upon the
east, and the last breath of the spirit of the crusades died, as
the system which had nourished it sunk before the great reli-
gious Reformation of the sixteenth century. Instead of monks
and soldiers, Europe, more enlightened, began soon after-
wards to send merchants, and consuls, and ambassadors. A
clearer and more satisfactory light was now thrown on the
geography of the Holy Land. The English traveller in
INTRODUCTION. XXIX
Palestine of most authority in the seventeenth century was
Sandys, who, however, often erred on the side of credulity.
Before the end of the century came the well known Henry
Maundrell, who, on account of the brevity of his narrative
and the extreme accuracy of his descriptions, has been selected
to conclude the present volume. We know little more of
Maundrell than that he was a fellow of Exeter College, Ox-
ford, which he left to take the appointment of chaplain to the
English factory at Aleppo. It is not within our province to
notice the works of subsequent travellers.
It will be necessary to make some statement to our readers
of the manner in which the present volume has been edited,
and of the sources from which the different works it contains
have been derived.
Tiie travels of bishop Arcalf, (as compiled by Adamnan,) as
well as those of Bernard the Wise, and the life of Willibald,
were printed in the Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti, Ssec.
III., Part II., in 1672. A previous edition of Arculf had been
published in a small quarto volume, Ingoldstadt, 1619, which
also contained the abridgment by Bede. The latter, under
the title oi Lihellus deLocis Sanctis, is included in the different
editions of Bede's works, and will be found in the recent
edition by Dr. Giles, accompanied with an English transla-
tion. Another edition of the narrative of Bernard was pub-
lished from a manuscript in the Cottonian Library in the
British Museum by M. Francisqae Michel, in the Memoirs of
the Society of Geography at Paris. M. Michel's text is in
many respects inferior to that of Mabillon, but it contains the
concluding paragraphs relating to the state of society in
Egypt, Italy, and France, which were wanting in the manu-
script from which Mabillon printed. But the new editor,
M. Michel, has fallen into a very grave error ; for the treatise
of Bede, De Locis Sanctis, following in the Cottonian manu-
script the tract of Bernard, he has mistaken them for one
continued treatise, and printed them as such, accusing Ma-
billon of having printed only one half of his author. The
narrative of Ssewulf, the only manuscript of which is pre-
served in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,
was published in the collection of the French Geographical
Society by M. D'Avezac, from a transcript furnished by the
editor of the present volume. M. D'Avezac has executed his
XXX INTEODUCTION.
task of editing with remarkable care a.nd discrimination, but
I fear that the transcript was in two or three instances inac-
curate, and at the time of publication it was unfortunately
not in the power of M. D'Avezac to have it collated with the
original. One omission of some importance for the architec-
tural history of the church of the Holy Sepulchre was very
kindly pointed out to me by Professor Willis, and has been
corrected in the translation. In describing this church, the text
as printed by M. D'Avezac contains the words, " Tsta oratoria
sanctissima continentur in atrio Dominici sepulchri ad orien-
talem plagam. In lateribus autem ipsius ecclesiae suae capellse
sibi adhaerent prseclarissimae hinc inde, sicut ipsi participes
Dominicae passionis sibi in lateribus constiterunt hinc inde."
In the original manuscript the passage stands thus, and is
rendered intelligible — " Ista oratoria sanctissima continentur
in atrio Dominici sepulchri ad orientalem plagam. In late-
ribus vero ipsius ecclesise dum capellse sibi adhserent prsecla-
rissimse hinc inde, SanctcB MaricB scilicet Sanctique Johannis
in lionore, sicut ipsi participes Dominicse passionis sibi in
lateribus constiterunt hinc inde."
These four narratives are here translated for the first time.
In translating Bernard, the text of Mabillon has been com-
pared with that of Michel. The narrative of Arculf has been
somewhat abridged, and relieved of some miracles and theo-
logical observations that are totally without interest. It may
be right to observe, also, that in the original manuscript this
narrative is accompanied with plans of churches, copies of
which are given in the edition of Mabillon, and in the editions
of Bede's abridgement.
The translation of the Saga of Sigurd the Crusader, is
taken, by the obliging permission of Mr. Laing, from his
recently published '' Hemskringla," or " Chronicle of the
Kings of Norway."
A number of editions, and several translations, of the
travels of Benjamin of Tudela, have appeared, but the only
strictly correct one is that published by Mr. A. Asher, Berlin,
1840. The translation published in the present volume is
a mere revision of the English version by Mr. Asher, altered
a little in the language, to make it more suitable for the popu-
lar English reader. My notes are chiefly abridged from the
valuable volume of notes published by Mr. Asher in 184.
INTKODUCTION. XXXI
The only edition of the English text of the book of Sir
John Maundeville which correctly represents an original
manuscript, is that published from the Cottonian Library in
1725, of which a reprint appeared in 1839, with an intro-
duction, and some additional notes by Mr. Halliwell. The
language of this edition has been modernized for the present
volume. The travels of Bertrandon de la Brocquiere are
preserved in a manuscript preserved in the Royal Library
in Paris, from which they were published, with some abridg-
ment and in modernized French, in the fifth volume of the
Memoires of the Institute of France, by Legrand d'Aussy.
They were thence translated into English by Mr. Johns, and
printed at his private press at Hafod, in 1807. This trans-
lation, which has become a rare book, has been here slightly
revised, and a few illustrative notes have been added. Maun-
droll's journey is reprinted from the original edition.
Brom;pton, Aug. 28; 1848.
THE TRAVELS OF BISHOP ARCULF
IN THE HOLY LAND.
TOWARDS A.D. TOO.
WRITTEN FROM HIS DICTATION, BY ADAMNAN, ABBOT OF lONA.
Akculf, tlie holy bishop, a native of Gaul, after visiting many
remote countries, resided nine months at Jerusalem, and made
daily visits to the surrounding districts. He counted in the
circuit of the walls of the holy city eighty-four towers and six
gates, the latter being distributed in the following order : —
the gate of David on the west of Mount Sion, the gate of the
valley of the Fuller, St. Stephen's gate, Benjamin's gate, the
little gate leading by a flight of steps to the valley of Jeho-
shaphat, and the gate called Tecuitis ; of which, the three
most frequented are, one to the west, another to the north,
and a third to the east. That part of the wall which, with its
towers, extends from the gate of David over the northern brow
of Mount Sion, which overlooks the city from the south, to
the precipitous brow of the same mountain which looks to the
east, has no gates.
The city itself begins from the northern brow of Mount
Sion, and declines with a gentle slope towards^ the walls on
the north and east, where it is lower ; so that the rain which
falls on the city runs in streams through the eastern gates,
carrying with it all the filth of the streets into the brook
Cedron, in the valley of Jehoshaphat. On the 15th of Sep-
tember, annually, an immense multitude of people of different
nations are used to meet in Jerusalem for the purpose of
commerce, and the streets are so clogged with the dung of
camels, horses, mules, and oxen, that they become almost im-
passable, and the smell would be a nuisance to the whole
town. But, by a miraculous providence, which exhibits God's
peculiar attachment to this place, no sooner has the multitude
left Jerusalem than a heavy fall of rain begins on the night
following, and ceases only whe^ the city has been perfectly
■ cleansed.
On the spot where the Temple once stood, near the eastern
wall, the Saracens have now erected a square house of prayer,
B
52 BISHOP AECULF. [A.D. 700.
in a rougli manner, by raising beams and planks upon some
remains of old ruins ; this is their place of worship, and it is
said that it will hold about three thousand men *. Arculf
also observed many large and handsome houses of stone in
all parts of the city, but his attention was more especially
attracted by the holy places.
The church of the Holy Sepulchre is very large and round,
encompassed with three walls, with a broad space between each,
and containing three altars of wonderful workmanship, in the
middle wall, at three different points ; on the south, the north,
and the west. It is supported by twelve stone columns of ex-
traordinary magnitude; and it has eight doors or entrances
through the three opposite walls, four fronting the north-east,
and four to the south-east. In the middle space of the inner
circle is a round grotto cut in the solid rock, the interior of
which is large enough to allow nine men to pray, standing,
and the roof of which is about a foot and a half higher than a
man of ordinary stature. The entrance is from the east side,
and the whole of the exterior is covered with choice marble
to the very top of the roof, which is adorned with gold, and
supports a large golden cross. Within, on the north side, is
the tomb of our Lord, hewn out of the same rock, seven feet
in length, and rising three palms above the floor. These mea-
surements were taken by Arculf with his own hand. This tomb
is broad enough to hold one man lying on his back, and has a
raised division in the stone to separate his legs. The en-
trance is on the south side, and there are twelve lamps burn-
ing day and night, according to the number of the twelve
apostles : four within at the foot, and the other eight above,
on the right-hand side. Internally, the stone of the rock
remains in its original state, and still exhibits the marks of
the workman's tools ; its colour is not uniform, but appears to
"be a mixture of white and red. The stone that was laid at
the entrance to the monument is now broken in two ; the
* Jerusalem was first captured by tlie Saracens, under the khalif Omar,
in 637, about sixty years before it was visited by Arculf. The patriarch
Sophronius, when requested by Omar to point out a place for the erection
of a mosque, is said to have taken him to the ruins on the site of Solo-
mon's Temple, which had been deserted by the Christians, and where the
building known as the Mosque of Omar was subsequently built. Until
Arculf 's time, the Mohammedans appear, however, to have had but a rough
and temporary erection, unless the worthy bishop's pious zeal would not allow
him to speak of the mosque otherwise thaii disrespectfully.
A.D. 700.] THE CHUHCHES IN JERUSALEM. 8
lesser portion standing as a square altar, before the entrance,
while the greater forms another square altar in the east part
of the same church, covered with linen cloths.
To the right of this round church (which is called the Ana-
stasis, or Kesurrection,) adjoins the square church of the Virgin
Mary, and to the east of this another large church is built on
the spot called in Hebrew Golgotha, from the ceiling of
which hangs a brazen wheel with lamps, beneath which a large
silver cross is fixed in the very place where stood the wooden
cross on which the Saviour of the human race suffered. Under
the place of our Lord's cross, a cave is hewn in the rock, in
which sacrifice is offered on an altar for the souls of certain
honoured persons deceased, their bodies remaining meanwhile
in the way or street between this church and the round
church. Adjoining the church of Golgotha, to the east, is
the basilica, or church, erected with so much magnificence by
the emperor Constantino, and called the Martyrdom, built,
it is said, in the place where the cross of our Lord with the
other two crosses were found by divine revelation, tvv^o hun-
dred and thirty-three years after they had been buried. Be-
tween these two last-mentioned churches, is the place where
Abraham raised the altar for the sacrifice of his son Isaac,
where there is now a small wooden table, on which the alms
for the poor are offered. Between the Anastasis, or round
church, and the basihca of Constantino, a certain open space
extends to the church of Golgotha, in which are lamps burning
day and night. In the same space between the Martyrdom
and the Golgotha, is a seat, in which is tlie cup of our
Lord, concealed in a little shrine, which Arculf touched
and kissed through a hole in the covering. It is made
of silver, of the capacity of about a French quart, and has
two handles, one on each side. In it also is the sponge
which was held up to our Lord's mouth. The soldier's lance,
with which he pierced our Lord's side, which has been broken
into two pieces, is also kept in the portico of the Martyrdom,
inserted in a wooden cross. Arculf saw some other relics,
and he observed a lofty column in the holy places to the
north, in the middle of the city, which, at mid-day at the
summer solstice, casts no shadow, which shows that this is the
centre of the earth*.
* It was a very old article of popular belief, founded on a literal interpret-
ation of the words of Ps. Ixxiv. 12, that Jerusalem was the centre, or, as it
B 2
4 BISHOP ARCULF. [A.D. 700.
Arculf next visited the liolj places in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of Jerusalem. In the valley of Jehoshaphat he saw
the round church of St. Mary, divided into two stories by slabs
of stone ; in the upper part are four altars ; on the eastern side
below there is another, and to the right of it an empty tomb
of stone, in which the Virgin Maiy is said to have been buried ;
but who moved her body, or when this took place, no one can
say. On entering this chamber, you see on the right-hand side
a stone inserted in the wall, on which Christ knelt when he
prayed on the night in which he was betrayed; and the
marks of his knees are still seen in the stone, as if it had
been as soft as wax. In the same valley, not far from die
church of St. Mary, is shown the tower of Jehoshaphat, in
wdiich his tomb is seen; adjoining to which little tower, on
the right, is a separate chamber cut out of the rock of Mount
Olivet, containing two hollow sepulchres, one, that of the aged
Simeon the Just, who held the child Jesus in the temple, and
prophesied of him; the other of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
On the side of Mount Olivet there is a cave, not far from the
church of St. Mary, on an eminence looking towards the
valley of Jehoshaphat, in which are two very deep pits. One
of these extends under the mountain to a vast depth ; the other
is sunk straight down from the pavement of the cavern, and is
said to be of great extent. These pits are always closed above.
In this cavern are four stone tables ; one, near the entrance, is
that of our Lord Jesus, whose seat is attached to it, and who,
doubtless, rested himself here while his twelve apostles sat at
the other tables. There is a wooden door to the cave, which
was often visited by Arculf ^^.
After passing through the gate of David, which is adjacent
to Mount Sion, we come to a stone bridge, raised on arches,
and pointing straight across the valley to the south ; half-way
along which, a little to the west of it, is the spot where Judas
Iscariot hanged himself ; and there is still shown a large fig-
tree, from the top of which he is said to have suspended
himself, according to the words of the poet Juvencus, —
" Informem rapuit ficus de vertice mortem."
was often expressed, the navel, of the world ; and it is so exhibited in nearly
all the medieval maps.
* Dr. Clarke is the only modern traveller who has given any notice of
these subterranean chambers or pits, which he supposes to haye been ancient
places of idolatrous worship.
A.D. TOO.] NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 5
On Mount Sion, Arculf saw a square cliurcli, which in-
cluded the site of our Lord's Supper, the place where the
Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles, the marble column
to which our Lord was bound when he was scourged, and the
spot where the Virgin Mary died. Here also is shown the
site of the martyrdom of St. Stephen. He saw on the south
of Mount Sion a small field (Aceldama) covered with a heap
of stones, where the bodies of many pilgrims are carefully
buried, while others are left to rot on the surface.
The ground to the north of Jerusalem, as far as the city of
Samuel, which is called Ramatha, is at intervals rough and
stony. There are open valleys, covered with thorns, extending
all the way to the region of Tamnitis ; but, on the other side,
from iElia (Jerusalem) and Mount Sion to Csesarea of Palestine,
though some narrow and craggy places are found, yet the
principal part of the way is a level plain interspersed with
olive-yards. Arculf states that few trees are found on Mount
Olivet, except vines and olive trees, but wheat and barley
flourish exceedingly; the nature of the soil, which is not
adapted to trees, is favourable to grass and flowers. The
height of this hill appears to be equal to that of Mount Sion,
although it is much more extensive in length and breadth :
the two mountains are separated by the valley of Jehoshaphat.
On the highest point of Mount Olivet, where our Lord as-
cended into heaven, is a large round church, having around it
three vaulted porticoes. The inner apartment is not vaulted
and covered, because of the passage of our L5rd's body ; but
it has an altar on the east side, covered with a narrow roof.
On the ground, in the midst of it, are to be seen the last prints
in the dust of our Lord's feet, and the roof appears open
above, where he ascended; and although the earth is daily
carried away by believers, yet still it remains as before, and
retains the same impression of the feet. Near this is a brazen
wheel, as high as a man's neck, having an entrance towards
the west, with a great lamp hanging above it on a pulley, and
burning night and day. In the western part of the same
church are eight windows ; and eight lamps, hanging by cords
opposite them, cast their light through the glass as far as
Jerusalem ; which light, Arculf said, strikes the hearts of the
beholders with a mixture of joy and divine fear. Every year, on
the day of the Ascension, when mass is ended, a strong blast
of wind comes down, and casts to the R'round all who are in
6 BISHOP ARCULF. [A.D. 700.
the churcli. All that night, lanterns are kept burning there,
so that the mountain appears not only lighted up, but actually
on fire, and all that side of the city is illuminated by it.
Arculf visited at Bethany a field in the middle of a large
grove of olives, where there is a great monastery, and a church
built over the cave where our Lord raised Lazarus from the
dead. There is also a much frequented church to the north
of Bethany, on that part of Mount Olivet where our Lord is
said to have preached to his disciples.
From Jerusalem Arculf went to Bethlehem, which is situ-
ated on a narrow ridge, surrounded on all sides by valleys. The
ridge is about a mile long, from west to east ; and a low wall,
without towers, surrounds the brow of the hill, and overlooks
the valley. The houses of the inhabitants are scattered
here and there over the space within the wall. At the ex-
treme eastern angle there is a sort of natural half cave, the
outer part of which is said to have been the place of our
Lord s birth ; the inside is called our Lord's Manger. The
w^hole of this cave is covered within with precious marble.
Over the place where more especially our Lord is said to have
been born, stands the great church of St. Mary. Near the
wall is a hollow stone, which received back from the wall the
water in which our Lord's body was washed, and has ever
since been full of the purest water, without any diminution.
If by any accident or service it has been emptied, it quickly
becomes as full as before. In the valley to the north of
Bethlehem, Arculf saw the tomb of David, in the middle of a
church, covered with a low pyramidal stone, unadorned, with
a lamp placed above it. In another church, on the slope of
the hill to the south, is the tomb of St. Jerome, equally with-
out ornament. About a mile to the east of Bethlehem, by
the tower of Ader, that is, of the Flock, is a church contain-
ing monuments of the three Shepherds, to w4iom, on this
spot, the angel announced the birth of our Lord.
There is a highway, according to Arculf, leading southward
from Jerusalem to Hebron, to the east of which Bethlehem
is situated, six miles from Jerusalem. At the extremity of
this road, on the west side, is the tomb of Rachel, rudely
built of stones, wdthout any ornament, presenting externally
the form of a pyramid. Her name, placed there by her hus-
band Jacob, is still shown upon it.
Hebron, which is also called Mamre, has no walls, and ex-
A.I). 700.] THE TOMBS OF THE PATllIARCHS. T
hibits only the ruins of tlie ancient city ; but there are some
ill-built villages and hamlets scattered over the plain, and in-
habited by a multitude of people. To the east is a double
cave, looking towards Mamre, where are the tombs of the
four patriarchs, Abram, Isaac, Jacob, and Adam the first
man. Contrary to the usual custom, they are placed with the
feet to the south, and the heads to the north ; and they are
inclosed by a square low wall. Each of the tombs is covered
wdth a single stone, worked somewhat in form of a church, and
of a light colour for those of the three patriarchs, which are
together. The tomb of Adam, which is of meaner workman-
ship, lies not far from them, at the furthest extremity to the
north. Arculf also saw poorer and smaller monuments of
the three women, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah, who were here
buried in the earth. The hill of Mamre is a mile to the
south-west of these monuments, and is covered with grass and
flowers, with a flat plain at the summit ; on the north side of
which is a church, in which is still seen, rooted in the ground,
the stump of the oak of Mamre, called also the oak of Abra-
ham, because under it he received the angels, St. Jerome
says that this oak had stood there from the beginning of the
world. Passing from Hebron towards the north, a hill of no
great size is seen to the left, covered with fir-trees, about
three miles from Hebron. Fir-w^ood, for fuel, is carried
hence to Jerusalem on camels, for, as Arculf observed, car-
riages or waggons are very seldom met with throughout the
whole of Judsea.
In another excursion, Arculf proceeded to Jericho, where,
although the city had been three times built, and as many
times utterly destroyed, yet the walls of the house of Rahab
still stand, although without a roof. The whole site of the
city is covered with corn-fields and vineyards, without any
habitations. Between it and the Jordan are large groves of
palm trees, interspersed with open spaces, in v/hich are
almost innumerable houses, inhabited by a diminutive sort of
men of the race of Canaan. A large church stands on the
site of Galgalis, where the children of Israel first encamped
after passing the Jordan It is five miles from Jericho.
Within the church are the twelve stones which Joshua ordered
to be taken out of the Jordan ; six on the south side of the
church floor, and six on the north. They are so heavy, that
two strong men, at the present day, could hardly lift one of
8 BISHOP ARCULF. [a.D. 700.
tliem ; one has been accidentally broken in two, but the pieces
have been reunited by means of iron.
A wooden cross stands in the Jordan, on the spot where
our Lord was baptized, the depth of which, when the water
is highest, reaches to the neck of a tall man, and, when
lowest, to the breast. The river is here about as broad
as a man can throw a stone with a sling. A stone bridge,
raised on arches, reaches from the bank of the river to the
cross, where people bathe. Arculf swam backwards and for-
wards in the Avater. A little church stands at the brink of
the water, on the spot where our Lord is said to have laid his
clothes when he entered the river. On the higher ground is
a large monastery of monks, and a church dedicated to St.
John. Arculf found the waters of the Jordan of a yellowish
milky colour, and observed that they preserved this colour to
a considerable distance, after they flowed into the Dead Sea,
where he also witnessed the way in which salt was obtained
from the waters of the latter.
In another excursion, Arculf visited the spot at the foot of
Mount Libanus where the Jordan has its rise from two foun-
tains, which are named Jor and Dan, the v/aters of which uniting,
take the name of Jordan ; and he went round the greater part
of the Sea of Galilee, called also the Lake of Gennesareth, and
the Sea of Tiberias, which is surrounded by thick woods, and
is a hundred and forty stadia in length. The waters are
sweet, and fit to drink ; for it receives no mud, or other coarse
substance, from any marshy pools, but is surrounded on all
sides by a sandy shore. Arculf also travelled over the coun-
try of Samaria, and visited the town called in Hebrew^
Sichem, but by the Greeks and Latins Sicima, and now more
usually Sichar. Here, without the walls, he saw a cruciform
cliurch, in the centre of which is the well of Jacob, where our
Saviour met the Samaritan woman. Arculf, who drank of
the water, estimated its depth at forty cubits. He also saw
in the wilderness a clear fountain, protected with a covering
vi masonr}', at which it is reported John the Baptist used to
drink. He likewise saw a very small species of locust, the
bodies of which are slender and short, about the size of a
finger; and, because the^^ make short leaps like frogs, they are
easily caught among the grass. When boiled in oil, they form
a poor sort of food. In the same desert he saw trees with
broad round leaves of a milky colour, with the savour of honey.
A.D. 700.] GENNESARETH — NAZARETH MOUNT TABOR. 9
which are naturally fragile, and, after being bruised with the
hand, are eaten ; and this is the wild honey found in the
woods. He further saw, on this side of the Sea of Galilee,
to the north of the city of Tiberias, the place where our Lord
blessed the loaves and fishes, a grassy and level plain, which
has never been ploughed since that event, and shows no
traces of buildings, except a few columns round the fountain
where, as they say, those persons drank after they had eaten
their fill.
Those who wish to go from Jerusalem to Capernaum, take
the direct way by Tiberias, and from thence, along the Sea of
Gennesareth, to the place where the loaves were blessed, from
which Capernaum is at no great distance. Arculf saw this
place from a neighbouring hill, and observed that it has no
walls, but lies on a narrow piece of ground between the
mountain and the lake. On the shore, towards the east, it
extends a long way, having the mountain on the north and
the water on the south. Arculf remained two days and two
nights at Nazareth, which is on a hill, and is also without
w^alls, but it has large houses of stone, and two very large
churches. One of these is raised upon mounds and arches
connecting them, and under it, between the mounds, is a clear
fountain, from which all the citizens draw water in vessels,
which they raise up into the church by means of pulleys. On
this site stood formerly the house in which our Lord was
nursed when an infant. The other church was built on the
site of the house in which the archangel Gabrjiel came to the
blessed Mary.
Mount Tabor, in Galilee, is three miles from the Lake of
Gennesareth, of a remarkably round shape, and covered in
an extraordinary manner with grass and flowers. At the top
is a pleasant and extensive meadow, surrounded by a thick
wood, and in the middle of the meadow a great monastery,
with numerous cells of monks. The meadow is about twenty-
four stadia in breadth, and the height of the mountain about
thirty stadia. There are also three handsome churches on
the top, according to the number of tabernacles described by
Peter ''f. The monastery and churches are inclosed by a stone
wall.
From Mount Tabor, Arculf went to the royal city of
* Matth. xvii. 4.
10 BISHOP ARCULF. [a.D. 700.
Damascus, eight days' journey, and remained there some
days. It js situated in a plain, surrounded by a broad and
ample circuit of walls, with numerous towers, and is inter-
sected by four great rivers. On all sides beyond the walls
are numerous groves of olives. The king of the Saracens
has obtained possession of this city, and reigns in it^. It
contains a large church of St. John the Baptist, frequented
by the Christians. The unbelieving Saracens have built
themselves a large mosque here. From hence Arculf re-
paired to Tyre, and thence (as it appears) he returned to Je-
rusalem. He went subsequently from Jerusalem to Joppa,
and thence sailed, in forty days, to Alexandria in Egypt, a city
famous throughout the whole world. It extends to a great
length from east to west, so that Arculf, who began to enter the
city at nine o'clock in the morning {liora tertia), in the month
of October, and proceeding through the whole length of the
city, hardly reached the other side before darkf. On the
south it is bounded by the mouths of the Nile, and on the
north by the Lake Mareotis. Its port is difficult of access,
and bears some resemblance to the human body ; for in its
head it is sufficiently ample, but at its entrance it is very nar-
row, where it admits the tide of the sea, together with such
ships as run into the port to take shelter and 'refit. But
when you have passed the narrow neck and mouth of the har-
bour, the sea, like the human body, stretches out far and
wide. On the right hand side is a small port, in which is
the Pharos, a large tower, which is every night lighted up
with torches, lest mariners might mistake their way in the
dark, and be dashed against the rocks in their attempt to
find the entrance, particularly as this is much impeded and
disturbed by the waves dashing to and fro. The port, how-
ever, is always calm, and in magnitude about thirty stadia.
The precautions alluded to are necessary for a port which is, in
a manner, the emporium of the whole world ; for innumerable
people from all parts go there for commerce, and the sur
* Damascus was taken by the Arabs in 634. By the capitulation, the
Christians were to have seven churches ; but one of the Arabian leaders
having broken into the city before the capitulation v/as completed, it was
only very partially observed.
f Alexandria fell into the power of the Arabs in 640. The account given
of the city by Arculf would lead us to believe that its prosperity and im-
portance were not so suddenly reduced by that event as is generally believed.
A.D. 700.1 ALEXANDRIA — CONSTANTINOPLE. 11
rounding region is extremely fruitful. Altliougli the country-
is destitute of rain, the Nile serves both as a cultivator of the
land, and as the means of transferring its products from one
place to another. Here you see people sowing, there navi-
gating, which are their chief occupations. The Nile is navi-
gable to the place they call the town of Elephants ^ ; beyond
that the cataracts hinder a ship from proceeding, not from
want of water, but because all the waters of the river run in
a sort of wild ruin down a steep descent. Towards Egypt,
as we enter the city, there is a large church on the right, in
which St. Mark the Evangelist is interred. The body is
buried in the eastern part of the church, before the altar,
with a monument of squared marble over it. Along the Nile,
the Egyptians are in the habit of constructing numerous em-
bankments, to prevent the irruption of the water, which, if
these mounds were broken down by the neglect of their keepers,
would rather inundate and destroy than irrigate the lands be-
low. The Egyptians who inhabit the plains, as Arculf, who
frequently passed backward and forward along the Nile, ob-
served, make their houses over canals by laying planks across.
Arculf relates further, that the river Nile is haunted by cro-
codiles, aquatic beasts, not so large as they are ravenous, and
so strong, that if one of them see by chance a horse or an
ass, or even an ox, feeding near the bank of the river, he
suddenly rushes out to attack it, and seizing |t perhaps by
the foot, drags it under the water, and devours the whole.
On his return from Alexandria, Arculf went to Constan-
tinople, which is bounded on all sides, except the north, by
the sea. The circuit of the walls, which are angular, accord-
ing to the line of the sea, is about twelve miles. Constan-
tino was at first disposed to build it in Cilicia, near the sea
w^hich separates Europe and Asia ; but on a certain night all
the iron tools were carried away, and when men were sent
to seek them, they were found on the European side ; for
there it was God's will that the city should be built. In this
* Urhs Elephantorum. The town of Elephantina, famous for its interesting
monuments, situate on the Nile, just below the cataracts. It is to be pre-
sumed that Arculf had visited this place; and perhaps he had here seen
the crocodiles subsequently described, as those animals are said not to be
found in Lower Egypt. It must, however, be observed, that St. Antoninus,
who visited Egypt in the seventh century, appears to have seen crocodiles in
Lower Egypt. See his Life, in the Act. Sanct. of the Bollandists.
12 BISHOP ARCULF. [A.D. 700.
city is a cliurch of -^vonderful workmanship, called tlie Church
of St. Sophia, built circular from its foundation, domed in,
and surrounded by three walls. It is supported to a great
height on columns and arches, and has, in its inmost part, on
the north side, a laroje and beautiful closet, wherein is a
w^ooden chest with a wooden lid, containing three pieces of
our Lord's cross -''' ; that is to say, the long timber cut in two,
and the transverse part of the same holy cross. These pieces
are exhibited for the adoration of the people three times only
in the year ; namely, on the day of our Lord's Supper, the
day of the Preparation, and on Holy Saturday. On the
first of these, the chest, which is two cubits long and one
broad, is set out on a golden altar, with the holy cross ex-
posed to view : the Emperor first approaches, and, after him,
all the different ranks of laymen in order kiss and worship
it ; on the following day, the Empress and all the married
women and virgins do the same ; on the third day, the
bishops and different orders of the clergy observe the same
ceremonies ; and then the chest is shut, and carried back to
the closet before mentioned.
Arculf saw other sacred relics in Constantinople, and then
sailed for his own country. About twelve miles from Sicily
he saw the isle of Vulcano, whence constantly issued smoke
by day and fire by night, with a noise like thunder, but with
more intensity on Fridays and Saturdays. The noise is heard
in Sicily, where Arculf made a short stay ; and afterwards,
on his way home, he was carried by contrary winds to the
shores of Britain, and at length came to me, Adamnan,
who by diligent inquiry obtained from him the above parti-
culars, which I have carefully committed to writing.
* The subsequent history of the supposed real cross, or rather the supposed
fragments of it^ which were scattered as relics over Christian Europe, would
fill a volume. It was pretended that it was brought to France by Charle-
magne.
THE TRAVELS OF WILLIBALD.
A.D. 721—727.
•WKITTEN FROM HIS OWN RECITAL BY A KUN OP HEIDENHEIM.
After the cerenionies of Easter were ended, the active cham-
pion (of Christ) prepared for his voyage with his two companions,
and left Rome. They first went eastward to the town of Date-
rina^S where they remained two days ; and thence to Cajeta, on
the coast, wdiere they went on hoard a ship and sailed over to
Nebulef. They here left the ship, and remained a fortnight.
These are cities belonging to the Romans ; they are in the
territory of Beneventum, hut subject to Rome. There, after
waiting anxiously, in constant prayer that their desires might
be agreeable to heaven, they found a ship bound for Egypt, in
which they took their passage, and sailed to the land of Cala-
bria, to the town which is called Rhegia]:, and there remained
two days ; and then proceeded to the island of Sicily, in which
is the town of Catania, where the body of St. Agatha, the
virgin, reposes. And there is Mount Etna; in case of an
eruption of wdiich, the inhabitants of Catania take the veil of
St. Agatha, and hold it up towards the fire, w^hich immedi-
ately ceases. They made a stay of three wrecks at this place,
and then sailed to the isle of Samos, and thence to the town
of Ephesus, in Asia, which is one mile from the sea. They
walked thence to the place v/here the seven sleepers repose ;
and onward thence to John the Evangelist, m a beautiful
locality by Ephesus. They next walked two miles along the •
sea-side to a large village which is called Figila§, Avhere
they remained one day, and, having begged bread, they went
to a fountain in the middle of the town, and, sitting on the
edge, they dipped their bread in the water, and so made their
meal. They next walked along the sea-shore to the town of
* Probably Terracina.
f Probably this is a corruption of Neapolis, or I^aples.
J Now Reggio.
§ This evidently corresponds to the liuyiXee, (or Pj^gela) of Strabo, which
he calls ^aX/;^vi«jy, a little town. Stephanas and Pomponius Mela also write
Pygela, but Pliny has it Phygala. The site is now, according to Hamilton,
(Trav. vol. ii. p. 22,) covered with fragments of Ptoman tiles and pottery ;
and near the road is the foundation of a large marble building, apparently a
temple.
14 WILLIBALD. [A.D. 722.
Strobole '^, seated on a lofty hill, and thence to the place
called Patera, where they remained till the rigour of winter
was past.
After this, going on ship-hoard, they came to the town
which is called Melitena f, which had been nearly destroyed by
an inundation ; and two hermits lived there on a rock, secured
by walls, so that the water could not reach them. And there
they suffered much from hunger, from which they were only
relieved by God's providential mercy J. They sailed thence to
the isle of Cyprus, which is between the Greeks and the
Saracens, to the town of Papho, where they passed the first
week in the year. And thence they went to the town of Con-
stantia, where St. Epiphanius reposes, and there they remained
till after the Nativity of St. John the Baptist §. They then
put to sea again and came into the region of the Saracens to
the town of Tharratas|l, by the sea; and thence they walked a
distance of nine to twelve miles to a castle called Archse If, where
there was a Greek bishop ; and there they had divine service
according to the Greek custom. Thence they walked twelve
miles to the town which is called Emessa, where there is a large
church built by St. Helena, in honour of John the Baptist,
whose head was long preserved there. This is in Syria.
Willibald s party had now increased to eight in number,
and they became an object of suspicion to the Saracens, who,
seeing that they were strangers, seized them and threw them
* Mr. Ainsworth, witli wliom I have consulted on this name, observes,
" I can only suppose that we must read Trogilium for Strobolem, or that the
latter was the native corruption of Trogilium, the name, according to Ptolemy,
of the promontory which lies between Ephesus and the Meander, and which
is opposite the island of Samos." In the Acts of the Apostles, xx. 15, it is
written, " And we sailed thence, (Mitylena,) and came the next day over
against Chios; and the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at
Trogyllium ; and the next day we came to Miletus."
+ ^. e. Miletus.
:|: The passage in the original is rather obscure. The later anonymous life
of St. Willibald says that they came to the mount of the Galani, which
having been ravaged by war, they were distressed for want of provisions.
*' Navim demum ingressi, ad montem Galanorum transfretarunt ; quo bellorum
tempestate tunc tempoiis depilato ssevam passi sunt inediam."
§ June 24, 722.
II Tortosa, now called Tartus.
% The Area of Ptolemy, placed in the Antonine Itinerary, 18 M.P. from
Tripolis, and 32 M.P. from Antaradon. Josephus (De Bel. Jud,, lib. vii. c, 13)
says the Grentiles called this Phoenician town Arcsea or Arcena. It is now
called Tele Arka.
A.D. 722.] THE PILGEIMS IN PKTSON. 15
into prison, because they knew not of what country they were,
and supposed them to be spies. They carried them as prisoners
before a certain rich old man, that he might examine them ;
and he inquired whence they came and the object of their
mission; whereupon they related to him the true cause of
their journey. The old man replied, " I have often seen
men of the parts of the earth wiience these come, travelling
hither; they seek no harm, but desire to fulfil their law."
And upon that they went to the palace, to obtain leave to pro-
ceed to Jerusalem.
While they w-ere in prison it happened, by a manifest in-
tervention of Divine Providence, that a merchant residing
there was desirous, as an act of charity, and for the salvation
of his soul, to purchase their deliverance, that they might
pursue their way, but he was not allowed to carry his gene-
rous design into effect ; nevertheless he sent them daily their
meals, and on Wednesdays and Saturdays sent his son to
them in prison, who took them out to the bath, and brought
them back again. And on Sunday he took them to church
through the market, that they might see the shops, and what-
ever they seemed to take a liking to he afterwards bought for
them at his own expense. The townsmen used then to
come there to look at them, because they were young and
handsome, and clad in good garments.
Then, while they were still remaining in prison, a man,
who w^as a native of Spain, came and spoke with them, and
inquired earnestly who they were and from whence they came,
and they told him the object of their pilgrimage. This
Spaniani had a brother in the king's palace, who was chamber-
lain to the king of the Saracens ; and when the governor who
had thrown them into prison came to the palace, the captain
in whose ship they had sailed from Cyprus, and the Spaniard
who had spoken to them in prison, w^ent together before the
Idng of the Saracens, whose title is Emir-al-Mumenin -:% and,
when their cause came on, the Spaniard spoke to his brother^
and begged him to intercede with the king for them. After
this, when all three came before the king, and told him the
* i. e. Emir, or commander of the faithful. Willibald, not understanding
the language, translated the title of the khalif into the name of a king, whom
the biographer calls Mirmumni. In a similar manner the old Spanish and
English historians frequently turned the same title into the name Miramomelin»
Ihe khalif here alluded to was Yezid II.
16 WILLIBALD. [a.D. 7^*2.
case, he asked whence the prisoners came. And they said,
'* These men come from the west country, where the sun sets ;
and we know of no land beyond them, but water only."
And the king replied, "Why ought we to punish them?
they have not sinned against us : — give them leave, and let
them go." And even the fine of four deniers, which the
other prisoners had to pay, was remitted to them. The
Cyprians were then situated between the Greeks and the
Saracens, and were not in arms : for there was great peace
and friendship between the Greeks and Saracens. It was a
great and extensive region, and had twelve bishops.
As soon as they had obtained leave, the travellers went
direct to Damascus, a distance of a hundred miles. St. Ana-
nias reposes there, and it is in the land of Syria. They re-
mained there one week. And at two miles from the city was
a church, on the spot where St. Paul was first converted, and
the Lord said to him, ** Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ?"
&c. And after praying there, they went into Galilee, to the
place where Gabriel first came to St. Mary, and said, *' Hail,
full of grace, ' &c. A church now stands there, and the
village which contains the church is Nazareth. The Chris-
'cians repeatedly bought that church of the pagans, when
the latter were about to destroy it. And having there recom-
mended themselves to the Lord, they proceeded to the town
of Cana, where our Lord . turned water into wine. A large
church stands there, and near the altar is still preserved one
of tlie six vessels which our Lord commanded to fill with water
to be turned into wine ; and the travellers drunk wine out of
it. They remained there one day, and then continued their
journey to Mount Tabor, the scene of our Lord's tranfigura-
tion, where there is now a monastery and a church conse-
crated to our Lord, and Moses, and Elijah. And those who
dwell there call it Hagemon (the Holy Mount). After pray-
ing there, they proceeded to the town of Tiberias, which
stands on the shore of the sea on which our Lord walked with
dry feet, and on which Peter tried to walk but sank. Here
are many churches, and a synagogue of the Jews. They re-
mained there some days, and observed where the Jordan
passes through the midst of the sea. And thence they went
round the sea, and by the village of Magdalum to the village
of Capernaum, where our Lord raised the prince s daughter.
Here was a house and a great wall, which the people of the
A.D. 722.] THE SOURCE OF THE JOEDAN GALGALA. 17
place told tliem was the residence of Zebedaeus with his sons
John and James. And thence they w^nt to Bethsaida, the re-
sidence of Peter and Andrew, where there is now a church on
the site of their house. They remained there that night, and
next morning went to Chorazin, where our Lord healed the
demoniacs, and sent the devil into a herd of swine. Here
was a church of the Christians.
Having performed their devotions there, they went to the
place where the two fountains, Jor and Dan, issue from the
earth, and flowing down from the mountain are collected
into one, and form the Jordan. And there they passed the
night between the two fountains, and the shepherds gave
them sour ewes' milk to drink. The sheep are of an extra-
ordinary kind, with a long back, short legs, large upright
horns, and all of one colour. There are deep marshes in the
neighbourhood, and when the heat of the sun, in summer, is
oppressive, the sheep go to the marsh, and immerse them-
selves in the water all but the head. Thence they proceeded to
Casarea, where there was a church and a multitude of Christ-
ians. They next went to the monastery of St. John the Bap-
tist ^, where there were about twenty monks, and remained
one night there, and next day went the distance of a mile to the
spot in the river Jordan where our Lord was baptized. Here
is now a church raised upon stone columns, and under the
church it is now dry land where our Lord was baptized. They
still continue to baptize in this place ; and a wooden cross stands
in the middle of the river, where there is small d'epth of water,
and a rope is extended to it over the Jordan. At the feast
of the Epiphany, the infirm and sick come thither, and, hold-
ing by the rope, dip in the water. And women who are
barren come thither also, and thus obtain God's grace. Willi-
bald here bathed in the Jordan, and they remained at this
place one day.
Thence they went to Gal gala, a journey of five miles, where
is a moderate-sized wooden church, in which are the twelve
stones which the children of Israel carried out of the Jordan
to Galgala, and placed there as a memorial of their pas-
sage. Here also they performed their devotions, and then
proceeded to Jericho, above seven miles from the Jordan, and
saw there the fountain which was blessed by the prophet
* In the desert of Quarantania,
18 WILLIBALD. [A.D. 722,
Elisha, and hence to the monastery of St. Eustochium, which
stands in the middle of the plain between Jericho and Jerii'^
salem.
On their arrival at Jerusalem, they first visited the spot
where the holy cross was found, where there is now a church
which is called the Place of Calvary, and which was formerly
outside of Jerusalem; hut when St. Helena found the cross, the
place was taken into the circuit of the city. Three wooden
crosses stand in this place, on the outside of the wall of the
church, in memory of our Lord's cross and of those of the
other persons crucified at the same time. They are without
the church, but under a roof. And near at hand is the garden
in which was the sepulchre of our Saviour, which was cut in
the rock. That rock is now above ground, square at the
bottom, but tapering above, vdth a cross on the summit. And
over it there is now built a wonderful edifice. And on the
east side of the rock of the sepulchre there is a door, by which
men enter the sepulchre to pray. And there is a bed \\ithin,
on which our Lord's body lay ; and on the bed stand fifteen
golden cups with oil burning day and night. The bed on
which our Lord's body rested stands within the rock of the
sepulchre on the north side, to the right of a man entering
the sepulchre to pray. And before the door of the sepulchre
lies a great square stone, in the likeness of the former
stone which the angel rolled from the mouth of the monu-
ment. Our bishop arrived here on the feast of St. Martin -i^,
and was suddenly seized with sickness, and lay sick until the
week before the Nativity of our Lord. And then, being a
little recovered, he rose and went to the church called St. Sion,
which is in the middle of Jerusalem, and, after performing his
devotions, he went to the porch of Solomon, where is the pool
where the infirm wait for the motion of the water, when the
angel comes to move it ; and then he who first enters it is
healed. Here our Lord said to the paralytic, " Else, take up
thy bed, and walk!"f St. Mary expired in the middle of
Jerusalem, in the place called St. Sion; and as the twelve
apostles were carrying her body, the angels came and took
her from their hands and carried her to paradise.
Bishop Willibald next descended to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
which is close to the city of Jerusalem, on the east side. And
* Not. 11, 722. f John, v. 8.
AD. 723.] MOUNT OLIVET — BETHLEHEM — ST. SABA. 19
in that valley is the cliurcli of St. Maiy, wliich contains her
sepulchre, not because her body rests there, but in memory
of it. And having prayed there, he ascended Mount Olivet,
which is on the east side of the valley, and where there is now
a church, where our Lord prayed before his passion, and said
to his disciples, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into
temptation. "^^J' And thence he came to the church on the
mountain itself, where our Lord ascended to heaven. In the
middle of the church is a square receptacle, beautifully sculp-
tured in brass, on the spot of the Ascension, and there is on
it a small lamp in a glass case, closed on every side, that the
lamp may burn always, in rain or in fair weather, for the
church is open above, without a roof ; and two columns stand,
within the church, against the north wall and the south wall,
in memory of the two men who said, *' Men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven ?"f And the man who can
creep between the wall and the columns will have remission
of his sins.
He next came to the place where the angel appeared to the
shepherds, and thence to Bethlehem, where our Lord was
born, distant seven miles from Jerusalem. The place where
Christ was born was once a cave under the earth, but it is
now a square house cut in the rock, and the earth is dug up
and thrown from it all round, and a church is now built above
it, and an altar is placed over the site of the birth. There is
another smaller altar, in order that when they clesire to cele-
brate mass in the cave, they may carry in the smaller altar
for the occasion. This church is a glorious building, in the form
of a cross. After prayers here, Willibald came to a large to^vn
called Thecua, where the children were slain by Herod, and
where there is now a church ; here rests one of the prophets.
And then he came to the valley of Laura, where there is a
large monastery; here the abbot resides in the monastery,
and he is porter of the church, with many other monks who
belong to the monastery, and have their cells round the valley
on the slope of the mountain. The mountain is in a circle
round the valley, in which the monastery is built. Here rests
St. Saba. He next arrived at the place where Philip bap-
tized the eunuch, where there is a small church, in an exten-
sive valley between Bethlehem and Gaza, where the travel-
* Matth., xxvi. 41. f Acts, i. 11.
c a
20 WILLIEALD. [a.D. 724.
lers prayed, Thence tliey went to St. Matthew, where there
is great glory on the Sunday. And while our bishop Wilii-
hald was standmg at mass in this church, he suddenly lost his
sight, and was blhid for two months. And thence they went
to St. Zacharias, the prophet, not the father of John, but
another prophet. They next w^ent to the castle of Aframia,
where the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, re-
pose, with their wives, and thence he returned to Jerusalem,
and there, entering the church where the holy cross of our
Lord was found, he recovered his sight.
After remaining some time at Jerusalem, Willibald set out
on another journey, and came first to St. George, at Diospolis,
which is ten miles from Jerusalem, and then to a town
where there is a church of St. Peter the apostle, who here re-
stored to life the widow named Dorcas. He went thence to
the coast, far away from Jerusalem, to Tyre and Sidon, which
stand on the sea-shore six miles from each other ; after which
he passed over Mount Libanus, to Damascus, and so again to
Caesarea, and a third time to Jerusalem, where he passed the
following winter. And then he went to the town of Ptole-
mais, on the extreme bounds of Syria, and was obliged by
sickness to remain there all Lent. Plis companions went
forward to the king of the Saracens, named Emir-al-Mume-
nin, with the hope of obtaining letters of safe conduct; but
they could not find the king, because he had fled out of his
kingdom. Upon this, they ca,me back, and remained together
at Ptolemais until the week before Easter.
Then they went again to Emessa, and asked the governor
there to give them letters, and he gave them a letter for each
two, because they could not travel in a company, but only two
and two, on account of the difficulty of obtaining food. And
then they went to Damascus, and returned a fourth time to
Jerusalem, where they remained a short period.
They now left Jerusalem by another route, and came to the
town of Sebaste, which was formerly called Samaria, and they
call the castle Sebastia. Here repose St. John the Baptist,
and the prophets Abdiah and Elisha ; and near the castle is
the well at which our Lord asked for water of the Samaritan
woman, and over which well there is now a church. And
near is the mountain on which the Samaritans worshipped ;
for the woman said to our Lord, " Our fathers worshipped in
this mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place
A.D. 724.] AERIVAL AT TYRE. 21
v/liere men ouglit to worship."-'^ Here the travellers per-
formed tiieir devotions, and then they proceeded to a large town
on the farthest herders of Samaria, where they reposed that
night. And thence they continued their journey over an ex-
tensive plain covered with olive trees, and they were accom-
panied by a black with two camels and a mule, wdio was con-
ducting a woman through the wood. And on their way they
w^ere met by a lionf, which threatened them much with fearful
roaring; but the black encouraged them, and told them to go
forwards; and when they approached it, the lion, as God
willed, hurried off in another direction, and they soon heard
his roaring in the distance. They supposed he came there
to devour people wdio went into the wood to gather olives.
At length they arrived at a town called Thalamartha, on the
sea-coast ; and they proceeded onwards to the head of Mount
Libanus, where it forms a promontory in the sea, and where
stands the tower of Libanus. Nobody is allowed to pass this
place without letters of safe conduct, for there is a guard in
it ; those who are without such letters, are seized and sent to
Tyre. That^ mountain is between Tyre and Thalamartha.
And so the bishop arrived again at Tyre.
Willibald had formerly, when at Jerusalem, bought balsam,
and filled a gourd with it : and he took a gourd that was
hollow, and had flax, and filled it with rock oil I ; and poured
some in the other gourd, and cut the small stalk, so that it
fitted exactly and closed up the mouth of the gourd. So, when
they came to Tyre, the citizens stopped them, and examined
their burthens to see if they had any thing concealed ; for if
they had found any thing, they would immediately have put
them to death. But they found nothing but Willibald s
gourd, which they opened, and, smelling the rock oil in the
stalk, they did not discover the balsam that was within. So
they let them go. They remained here many days waiting
for a ship, and when they had obtained one they w^ere at sea
all the winter, from the day of St. Andrew the apostle § till
a week before Easter, wdien they reached Constantinople.
* John, iv. 20.
t Lions were ever of very rare occurrence in Syria : perhaps it was some
other wild animal peculiar to the country that Willibald saw. It may, how-
ever, be pointed out as a curious illustration of the words of Jeremiah (xlix.
19, and 1. 44), "He shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan."
X Petrce oleum. No doubt the writer means naphtha, bitumen, or asphaltum.
§ Nov. 30, 724.
S2 WILLIBALD. [a.d. 725-727.
Here repose in one altar the three samts, Andrew, Timothy, and
Luke the evangehst; and the sepulchre of John Chrysostom
is before the altar where the priest stands when he performs
mass. Willibald remained there two years, and was lodged
in the church, so that he might behold daily where the saints
reposed. And then he came to the town of Nice, where the
emperor Constantino held a synod, at which three hundred
and eighteen bishops were present. The church here resem-
bles the church on Mount Olivet, where our Lord ascended
to heaven, and in it are the pictures of the bishops who were
at the synod. Willibald went thither from Constantinople,
that he might see how that church was built, and then re-
turned to Constantinople.
At the end of the two years they sailed, in company with
the envoys of the pope and the emperor, to the isle of Sicily, to
the town of Syracuse, and thence to Catania, and so to the city
of Kegia, in Calabria; and thence to the isle of Vulcano, where
is Theodoric's Hell^. And when they arrived there, they
went on shore to see what sort of a hell it was ; and Willibald
especially, who was curious to see the interior, was wishful to
ascend to the summit of the mountain where the opening was ;
hut he was unable to accomplish his wish, on account of the cin-
ders which were thrown up from the gulf, and settled in heaps
round the brim, as snow settles on the ground when it falls from
heaven. But though Willibald was defeated in his attempt
to reach the summit, he had a near view of the column of
flame and smoke which was projected upwards from the pit
"Nvith a noise like thunder. And he saw how the pumice-stone,
"which writers usef, was thrown with the flame from the hell,
and fell into the sea, and was thence cast on the shore, where
men gathered it and carried it away. After having witnessed
this spectacle, they sailed to the church of St. Bartholomew
the apostle, which stands on the sea-shore, and came to the
mountains which are called Didymi. Thence they w^ent by
sea to Naples.
* Infernus Theodorici. In the legends of t"his age, the craters of vol-
canoes were believed to be entrances to hell. A hermit, who resided on the
Isle of Lipari, told a friend of pope Gregory the Great that he had seen the
soul of the Gothic king, Theodoric, thrown into the crater of the Isle of
Vulcano (Gregor. Magn. Dialog._, lib. iv. c. 30). Hence the name given to
it in Willibald's narrative.
f The medieval scribes made constant use of the pumice-stone, for
fimoothening their vellum and for making erasures.
THE VOYAGE OF BERNARD THE WISE.
A.D. 86T.
In the year from tlie incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ
867, in the name of the Lord wishing to visit the holy places
at Jerusalem, I, Bernard, having taken for my companions
two brother monks, one of whom was of the monastery of St.
Vincent at Beneventum, and named Theudemund, and the
other a Spaniard, named Stephen, we went to Rome, to Pope
Nicholas, and obtained the desired licence to go, along with
his benediction and assistance.
Thence we went to Mount Gargano, in which is the Church
of St. Michael, under one stone, covered above with oak trees ;
which church is said to have been dedicated by the archangel
himself. Its entrance is from the north, and it is capable of
containing sixty men. In the interior, on the east side, is
the image of the angel ; to the south is an altar on which
sacrifice is offered, and no other gift is placed there. But
there is suspended before the altar a vessel in which gifts are
deposited, which also has near it other altars. Benignatus
is abbot of this place, and presides over a numerous brother-
hood.
Leaving Mount Gargano, we travelled a hundred and fifty
miles, to a city in the power of the Saracens, named Bari'-^',
"which was formerly subject to Beneventum. It is seated on
the sea, and is fortified to the south by two very wide walls ;
but to the north it stands exposed to the sea. Here we ob-
tained from the prince of the city, called the sultan, the
necessary arrangements for our voyage, with two letters of
safe conduct, describing our persons and the object of our
^ The Saracens had established themselves at Ban in the early part of the
century, and it was now the head seat of their power on the coast of Italy.
Their predatory excursions into the territory of Beneventum caused the
emperor Louis II. to prepare an expedition against them, and he took Bari
after a siege of four years, and returned to Beneventum in 871, while his
troops laid siege to Tarentum, which, however, was not taken from the
Saracens till a somewhat later period. The Christian captives mentioned by
Bernard, as carried in such numbers into slavery in Africa and Egypt, had
been carried oif in the incursions into the territory of Beneventum. To judge
from the numbers embarked in one ship, they must have been packed up almost
as close as negroes in a slave-ship.
24 BERNARD THE WISE. [A.D. 867.
journey, to the prince of Alexandria, and to the prince of
Babylonia-!'. These princes are under the jurisdiction of the
Emir-al-Mumenin, who rules over all the Saracens, and re-
sides in Bagada andAxinarri, which are beyond Jerusalem.
From Bari we proceeded to the port of the city of Taren-
tum, a distance of ninety miles, where we found six ships,
having on board nine thousand captives of the Christians of
Beneventum. In the two ships which sailed first, and which
were bound for Africa, were three thousand captives ; and in
the two which followed them, and v/hich went to Tunis, there
were also three thousand. The two others, which likewise
contained the same number of Christian captives, carried us to
the port of Alexandria, after a voyage of thirty days. Here
we were prohibited from landing by the captain of the sailors,
who had sixty under his command, until we had given six
aiirei for our leave. Thence we went to the prince of Alex-
andria, and showed him the letter which the sultan had given
us, to which, however, he paid no attention, but obliged each
of us to pay thirteen deniers, and then gave us letters to the
prince of Babylonia. It is the custom of these people to take
in weight only what can be weighed ; and six of our sols
and six deniers make three sols and three deniers of their
money.
The city of Alexandria is adjacent to the sea. It was
here that St. Mark, preaching the gospel, bore the episcopal
dignity ; and outside the eastern gate of the city is the mo-
nastery of the saint, with the church in which he formerly
reposed. But the Venetians coming there obtained his body
by stealth, and carrying it on shipboard, sailed home with it.
Without the western gate is a monastery called The Forty
Saints, in which, as well as in the former, there are a num-
ber of monks. The port is to the north of the city ; on the
south is the entrance to the Gyon, or Nile, which waters
Egypt, and, running through the middle of the city, empties
itself into the sea in the aforesaid port. We entered the
river, and sailed to the south six days, and came to the city
of Babylon of Egypt, where once reigned king Pharaoh,
under w^hom Joseph built the seven granaries still remaining.
* This is the Egyptian Bahylon, now Fostat, or, as it is often called, Old
Cairo. Bagdad (Bagada) was, for many ages, the capital of the Saracen
empire, and residence of the khalifs. It is doubtful what place is meant
by Axinarri, which, in Mabillon's text, is called Axiam,
A.D..867.] ADVENTURES IN EGYPT. 25
When we went on shore at Babylon, the guards of the city
carried us before the prince, a Saracen named Adalhacham,
who inquired of us the object of our journey, and asked us
from what princes we had letters. Whereupon we showed
him the letters of the aforesaid sultan, and those of the
prince of Alexandria ; but they were of no service to us, for
he sent us to prison, where we remained six days, and then,
having consulted together, we obtained our liberty by giving
more money. He then gave us letters, which effectually pro-
tected us from any further exactions, for he was second in
command to the Emir-al-Mumenin aforesaid. Nevertheless,
when we entered the cities mentioned in the following nar-
rative, we were never allowed to leave them until we had
received a paper or impression of a seal, for which we had to
pay one or two deniers.
There is in this city a patriarch, by name Michael'!^, who by
the grace of God rules over the bishops, monks, and other
Christians throughout Egypt. These Ciiristians are tolerated
by the pagans, on condition of paying for each person an
annual tribute to the aforesaid prince, and they live in secu-
rity and freedom. This tribute is three, or two, or one aureus,
or for a meaner person thirteen deniers. But he who cannot pay
thirteen deniers, whether he be a native or a stranger, is thrown
into prison, until God or some good Christian redeem him.
We now returned by the river Gyon, and came to the city
of Sitinulh, and thence proceeded to Malla ; and from Malla
we sailed across to Damietta, which has the sea to the north,
and on all other sides the river Nile, with the exception of a
small strip of land. We sailed thence to the city of Tamnis,
in which the Christians are very pious, and exceedingly hos-
pitable. This city possesses no land, except where the
churches stand ; and there is shown the field of Thanis,
where lie, in the manner of three walls, the bodies of those
who died in the time of Moses f. From Tamnis we came to
* This was the patriarch Michael I., who ruled over the Melchite portion
of the Coptic Christians from 859 to 871. There was at this time a schism
among the Christians of Egypt.
f Of the places here visited by Bernard, Sitinulh is perhaps Menuph; Malla
is Mahalleh ; and Tamnis is Tennis, or Tennesus, the field of Thanis, answering
to " the field of Zoan," Psal. Ixxviii. 12. Faramea (in the next page), is Farama
or Pelusium. The caravanserais are perhaps al-hir (the well) and al-hdkara (the
pulley), both common names given to wells ; but it is uncertain now what were
tlie particular spots alluded to by Bernard. Alariza would seem to be Al-arish.
26 BERNAED THE WISE. [A.D. 867.
the city of Faramea, where is a church of St. Marj, on the
spot to which, by the admonition of the angel, Joseph fled
with the child and its mother. In this city there is a multi-
tude of camels, which are hired from the natives by travellers
to carry their baggage across the desert, which is a journey
of six days. At this city the desert begins ; and it may well
be called a desert, for it bears neither grass nor fruit of any
kind, with the exception of palm-trees, and it is white, like a
plain covered with snow. In the middle of the route there
are two caravanserais, one called Albara, the other Albacara,
in which the Christians and pagans traffic for the things
necessary on the journey. But around them the earth is as
barren as in the rest of the desert. After Albacara the earth
becomes fruitful, and continues so to the city of Gaza, which
was the city of Samson, and is very rich in all things. Then
we came to Alariza, and thence we went to Ramula, near which
is the monastery of St. George the Martyr, in which he rests.
From Eamula we hastened to the castle of Emaus ; and thence
we went to the holy city of Jerusalem, where we were re-
ceived in the hostel founded there by the glorious emperor
Charles '<S in which are received all the pilgrims who speak
the Koman tongue; to which adjoins a church in honour of St.
Mary, with a most noble library, founded by the same emperor,
with twelve mansions, fields, vineyards, and a garden in the
Valley of Jehoshaphat. In front of the hospital is a market,
for which every one trading there pays yearly to him who
provides it two aurei.
Within this city, besides others, there are four principal
churches, connected with each other by walls ; one to the
east, which contains the Mount of Calvary, and the place
in which the cross of our Lord was found, and is called the
.Basilica of Constantino ; another to the south; a third to the
west, in the middle of which is the sepulchre of our Lord,
having nine columns in its circuit, between which are walls
made of the most excellent stones ; of which nine columns,
* Charlemagne. We have no other account of Charlemagne's foundations
at Jerusalem ; but the khalif Haroun-er-Kaschid is said to have shown great
favour to the Christian pilgrims from respect for the Prankish emperor,
and even to have sent him the keys of the Holy Sepulchre and of Jerusalem.
A legend prevalent in the twelfth century made the emperor visit Jerusalem
in person ; and an Anglo-Norman poem on Charlemagne's pretended voyage
to the Holy Land, composed in that century, was printed by M. Fr. Michel
in 1836.
A.D. 867.] THE HOLY SEPULCHEE. ^7
four are in front of the monument itself; which, Ynth. their
walls, include the stone placed before the sepulchre, which
the angel rolled away, and on which he sat after our Lord s
resurrection. It is not necessary to say more of this sepul-
chre, since Bede has given a full description of it in his
history-!^. I must not, however, omit to state, that on Holy
Saturday, which is the eve of Easter, the office is begun
in the morning in this church, and after it is ended the
Kyrie Eleison is chanted, until an angel comes and lights the
lamps which hang over the aforesaid sepulchre f ; of which
light the patriarch gives their shares to the bishops and to
the rest of the. people, that each may illuminate his own
house. The present patriarch is called Theodosius J, and was
brought to this place on account of his piety from his monas-
tery, which is fifteen miles from Jerusalem, and was made
patriarch over all the Christians in the Land of Promise.
Between the aforesaid four churches is a parvis without roof,
the walls of which shine with gold, and tlie pavement is
laid with very precious stone ; and in the middle four chains,
coming from each of the four churches, join in a point which
is said to be the middle of the world.
There is, moreover, in the city, another church on Mount
* See "Eede's Ecclesiastical History/' book v. chap€. 16 and 17. Bede
professedly takes his account from Adamnan's narrative of the travels of
bishop Arculf, and the description referred to will be found at p. 2 of the
present volume.
f This was a very celebrated miracle in the middle ages, and will be
remembered as the cause of the persecution of the Christians in the Holy
City, and of the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, by the
khalif Hakem, in a.d. 1008 or 1010. An eastern Christian writer,
Abulfaragius, tells us that "the author of this persecution was some enemy
of the Christians, who told Hakem that, when the Christians assembled in
their temple at Jerusalem, to celebrate Easter, the chaplains of the church,
making use of a pious fraud, greased the chain of iron that held the lamp
over the tomb with oil of balsam ; and that, when the Arab officer had sealed
up the door which led to the tomb, they applied a match, through the roof,
to the other extremity of the chain, and the fire descended immediately to
the wick of the lamp and lighted it. Then the worshippers burst into tears,
and cried out hyrie eleison, supposing it was fire which fell from heaven upon
the tomb ,• and they were thus strengthened in their faith." This miracle
was probably instituted after the time when so much encouragement was
given to the pilgrims under the reign of Charlemagne. It is not mentioned
in the works that preceded Bernard, but it is often alluded to in subsequent
writers, and continues still to be practised by the Greeks.
$ Theodosius was patriarch of Jerusalem from 863 to 879.
28 BEKNARD THE WISE. [a.D. 867.
Sion, which is called the Church of St. Simeon, where our
Lord washed the feet of his disciples, and in which is sus-
pended our Lord's crown of thorns. St. Mary is said to have
died in this church. Near it, towards the east, is a church
in honour of St. Stephen, on the spot where he is believed
to have been stoned. And, indirectly to the east, is a church
in honour of St. Peter, in the place where he denied our
Lord. To the north is the Temple of Solomon, having a
synagogue of the Saracens -i'. To the south of it are the iron
gates through which the angel of the Lord led Peter out of
prison, and which were never opened afterwards.
Leaving Jerusalem, we descended into the Valley of Je-
hoshaphat, vrhich is a mile from the city, containing the vil-
lage of Getlisemane, with the place of the nativity of St.
Mary. In it is a round church of St. Mary, containing her
sepulchre, on which the rain never falls, although there is no
roof above it. There is also a church on the spot where our
Lord was betrayed, containing the four round tables of his
Supper. In the Valley of Jehoshaphat there is also a church
of St. Leon, in which it is said that our Lord will come at
the Last Judgment. Thence we went to Mount Olivet, on.
the declivity of which is shown the place of our Lord's
prayer to the Father. On the side of the same mountain is
shown the place where the Pharisees brought to our Lord the
woman taken in adultery, where there is a church in honour
of St. John, in which is preserved the writing in marble
which our Lord wrote on the ground f . At the summit of the
mountain, a mile from the Valley of Jehoshaphat, is the place
of our Lord's ascension, in the middle of which, on the spot
from which he ascended, is an altar open to the sky, on
which mass is celebrated. Thence we proceeded to Bethany,
which is to the south, on the ascent of the mountain, one
mile from the top ; there is here a monastery, with a church
* i. e. tlie Mosque of Omar.
f The event alluded to occurred in the Temple, and not on the Mount of
Olives. The notion mentioned in the text must have arisen from a wrong
reading of the first verses of John, viii. It is stated in the Gospel, John,
viii. 6, '^ But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground,
as though he heard them not." This writing on the ground was worked up
into a popular legend in the middle ages, according to which Christ is repre-
sented as writing on the ground the secret sins of all the persons assembled
to condemn the woman ; and this, we are told, was the cause that they all
slunk away ashamed.
A.D. 867.] BETHLEHEM KETURN TO ITALY. 29
containing the sepulchre of Lazarus ; near which, to the
north, is a pool in which, by our Lord's command, Lazarus
washed himself after he had been raised from the dead ; and
he is said to have been subsequent!}' bishop in Ephesus forty
years. On the western declivity of Mount Olivet is shown
the marble from which the Lord descended on the foal of an
ass. Between these, to the south, in the Valley of Jehosha-
phat, is the pool of Siloah.
When we left Jerusalem on the way to Bethlehem, the
place of our Lord's nativity, distant six miles, we were shown
the field in which Habakkuk was at w^ork when the angel of
the Lord ordered him to carry his meal to Daniel in Babylon,
which is to the south, where Nebuchadnezzar reigned, but
which is now the haunt of serpents and wild beasts. At
Bethlehem there is a very large church in honour of St. Mary,
in the middle of w^hich is a crypt under a stone, the entrance
of wdiich is from the south, and the egress from the east, in
wdiich is shown the manger of our Lord, on the west side of
the crypt. But the place in w^iich our Lord cried, is to the
east, having an altar where masses are celebrated. Near this
church, to the south, is a church of the Blessed Innocents,
the martyrs. One mile from Bethlehem, is the monastery
of the Holy Shepherds, to whom the angel appeared at our
Lord's nativity. Lastly, thirty miles to the^ east of J erusa-
lem is the river Jordan, on which is the monastery of St.
John ; in w^hich space there are also many other monasteries.
Among them, one mile to the south of the city of Jerusalem,
is the church of St. Mamilla, in which are many bodies of
martyrs slain by the Saracens, and diligently buried there by
her.
We returned from the holy city of Jerusalem direct to the
sea, where we took ship, and sailed sixty days in very great
peril, from the violence of the wind. At length we landed at
Mons Aureus, where is a crypt containing seven altars, and
having above it a great forest ; which crypt is so dark, that
none can enter it without lamps. The abbot there is Dom
Valentine. Thence we went to Rome, within^ which city, to
the east, in a place called Lateran, is a well-built church in
honour of St. John the Baptist, where is the special see of
the popes ; and there, every year, the keys are carried to
the ^ope from every part of the city. On the west side
of Bome is the church of St. Peter, the chief of the Apostles,
80 BEENARD THE WISE. [A.D. 867.
where he rests ; the magnitude of which is unequalled hy any
church in the whole world, and it contains a variety of oraa-
ments. In which city repose innumerahle hodies of saints.
Here I separated from my companions ; I myself proceeded
thence to St. Michael ad Duas Tumbas-'', which is a place
situated on a mountain that runs out two leagues into the sea.
At the summit of this mountain is a church in honour of St.
Michael; the mountain is surrounded by the tide twice
every day, at morning and evening, and men cannot go to
the mountain until the sea retires. But on the Feast of St.
Michael the sea does not join round the mountain w^hen the
tide comes in, but stands like walls to the right and left, so
that on that day all who wish to perform their devotions there
can pass to the mountain any hour of the day, which they
cannot do on other days. There Phinimontius, a Breton, is
abbot.
Now I will tell you how the Christians keep God's law both
at Jerusalem and in Egypt. The Christians and Pagans
have there such a peace betw^een them, that if I should go a
journey, and in the journey my camel or ass which carries
my baggage should die, and I should leave everj^thing there
without a guard, and go to the next town to get another, on
my return I should find all my property untouched. The law
of public safety is there such, that if they find in a city, or
on the sea, or on the road, any man journeying by night or by
day, without a letter, or some mark of a king or prince of that
land, he is immediately thrown into prison, till the time he
can give a good account whether he be a spy or not.
The people of Beneventum, in their pride, slew their
prince, Sichard, and did great injury to the Christian faith ;
then they had quarrels and contentions among themselves,
until Louis, the brother of Lothaire and Charles f, obtained
* Mount St. Michel, on the coast of Brittany_, which was commonly called
St. Michel ad tumham or ad tumhasy and was a place of great celebrity in
the romantic, as well as in the religious, legends of the middle ages. It is
more than probable that, before the foundation of the monastery, the top of
the mount was occupied by a cromlech, like so many of the islands on this
coast.
i" Sichard was a cruel and oppressive tyrant, and was deservedly hated by
his subjects. At length, having attempted to violate the wife of one of his
nobles, the latter excited the people of Beneventum to revolt; and they
burst into his palace, and slaughtered him, towards the end of the year 839.
This act of popular vengeance was succeeded by a period of domestic troubles.
A.D. 1102.] s^wulf's depaetuee. 31
the empire over them. And in Eomania many crimes are
committed, and there are bad people there, banditti and
thieves, and so men cannot go to Rome to visit St, Peter, un-
less they join together in troops, and go armed. In Lom-
bardy, under the reign of the aforesaid Louis, there is tole-
rably good peace. The Bretons also have peace among them-
selves ; and it is there the custom that if any one injure
another, a third immediately comes, whoever he may be who
witnesses it, and takes up the cause of the injured man as
though he were his neighbour. And if any one is proved to
have stolen more than four deniers, they slay him, or hang
him on a gallows ^'.
I will add, in conclusion, that we saw in the village of
Gethsemane squared marble stones of that fineness that a
man might see any thing he liked in them, as in a looking-
glass.
THE TRAVELS OF S^WULF.
A.D. 1102 AND 1103.
I, S^wuLF, though conscious of my own unworthiness, went
to offer up my prayers at the Holy Sepulchre ; but, owing to
my sins, or to the badness of the ship, being unable to proceed
thither by the direct course on the open sea, I will commence
with an enumeration of the different islands at which we
touched.
Some pilgrims embark at Bari, others at Barlo (Barletta ?),
some at Siponte, or at Trani; while others take ship at Otranto,
the entrance port of Apulia. We set sail from Monopoli, one
day's journey from Bari, on Sunday, being the feast of St.
Mildred f . But starting at an unlucky hour, as happened to
us again on a subsequent occasion, we had not proceeded more
whicli favoured the designs of the Saracens, and ultimately brought Bene-
ventum under the power or protection of the emperor Louis II., or the Ger-
manic, (the brother of Lothaire and Charles the Bald, and grandson of
Charlemagne.) who was emperor and king of Germany from 840 to 876.
* Salomon III. was count of Brittany at this time ; but history hardly
bears out Bernard's boasts of the peace and good goyernment of the country
under his rule.
t July 13, 1102.
3S ' S^WULF. [a.d. 1102.
than three miles, when the mercy of God alone saved us from
perishing ; for the same day the violunce of the waves wrecked
our vessel, but with God's help we all reached the shore in
safety. We then went to Brandia^^, and again our ship,
being refitted, set sail on an unlucky day f, and reached the
town of Corfu, on the eve of St. James the Apostle |. From
thence we were driven by a tempest to the island of Cepha-
lonia, which we reached on the 1st of August. Here Robert
Guiscard died§; we also lost some of our party, which was the
cause of sadness to us. We next touched at Polipolis|l; after
which we came to the celebrated island of Patras, the city
of whidi we entered for the sake of praying to St. Andrew the
Apostle, who suffered martyrdom and was buried here, but
was afterwards translated to Constantinople. From Patras
w^e w^ent to Corinth, which we reached on the eve of St. Law-
rence^]. St. Paul preached the word of God here, and wrote
an epistle to the citizens. In this place we suffered many
contrarieties. Thence w^e sailed to the port of Hosta-i'^s from
which place we proceeded, some on foot, others on asses, to
the city of Thebes, vulgarly called Stivas. On the eve of St.
Bartholomew the Apostle ff, we came to Nigropont, where we
hired another ship. Athens, where the Apostle Paul preached,
is two days' journey from Corinth ; St. Dionysius was born and
taught there, and was afterwards converted by St. Paul.
Here is a church of the blessed Virgin Mary, which has a
lamp that burns alw^ays and never wants oil.
We went afterwards to the island of Petalion || ; thence to
Andros, where are made rich sindals and samits and other
stuffs of silk. We then touched successively at Tinos, Syra,
* The modern Brindisi {Brundusium of the ancients).
"h Die JEgyptiaca, liora jEgyptiaca. The superstitious belief in unlucky,
or, as they were commonly termed, Egyptian days, was universally prevalent
in the middle ages ; and the days of the month believed to have this character,
and on which it was unpropitious to begin or undertake any thing, are often
marked in the early calendars and other manuscripts.
X July 24.
§ See our Introduction.
11 M. D'Avezac conjectures this to be merely some palceoj)olis, or ancient
site. No such name as Polipolis can be traced in the maps.
H Aug. 9.
** This appears to be the place formerly called Liva d'Osta, now corrupted
into Livadostro.
ft Aug. 23.
ZX The modern Spili.
A.D. 1102.] EPIIESUS RHODES PATERA — MYKA. 33
Miconi, and Naxia, near which is the famous island of Crete.
Next we came to Carea (Khero), Amorgo, Samos, Scio, and
Meteline. We then proceeded to Pathmos, where St. John
the Apostle and Evangelist, banished by Domitian Caesar,
wrote the Revelations. On the side towards Smyrna, a
day's journey distant, is Ephesus, where he afterwards en-
tered the sepulchre living ; the apostle Paul, moreover,
wrote an Epistle to the Ephesians. Then we came to the
isles of Lero and Calimno, and afterwards to Ancho-!^, where
Galen, the physician most celebrated among the Greeks,
was born. Thence we passed over to the port of Lidof, a
city destroyed, where Titus, the disciple of St. Paul, preached.
Next, to Asus, which is interpreted silvery.
Our next station was the famous island of Rhodes, which is
said to have possessed one of the seven wonders of the world,
the idol called Colossus, which was a hundred and twenty feet
high, and was destroyed by the Persians, with nearly all the
province of Romania, when they were on their way to Spain.
These are the Colossians, to whom St. Paul the Apostle wrote
his epistle J. Hence, it is a distance of one day to the city
of Patera, where St. Nicholas the archbishop was born, and
where we arrived in the evening, after escaping a violent
storm. Next morning we sailed to an entirely desolate town
called Mogronissi of St. Mary, which means Long Island,
which it would appear by the churches and other buildings
had been inhabited by the Christians, after they had been
driven by the Turks from Alexandria §. Then we came to
the city of Myra, w^here St. Nicholas was archbishop, and
* Stancho, the ancient Cos ; Hippocrates, and not Galen, was bom there.
f M. D'Avezac is probably right in his conjecture that the Lido of Ssewulf
represents the ruins of Cnidus, near Cape Crio ; and that Asus, which imme-
diately follows, is the little island of Syme (Xy^>j), which lies off Cnidus.
It is likely enough that the local pronunciation of Cnido may have
been taken by the monkish traveller for something like Lido. No detailed
legend of St. Titus is preserved. "What is known of him will be found in
the Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists, vol. i. p. 163.
X This is a remarkable blunder, arising from a strange confusion of words
and ideas. The Colossians were the inhabitants of Colossus, in Phrygia.
The Persians of Saewulf were the Saracens, who captured llhodes in a.d.
651. It had been taken by the Persians in 616.
§ Mogronissi, or Macronisi, is supposed by M. D'Avezac to be the island
of Kakava, on the western point of which are still traced the ruins of a town
and church. The Alexandria here alluded to is of course Alexandretta, or
Iskenderoon.
S4 SJ2WULF. [a.d. 1102.
•which is the port of the Adriatic Sea, as Constantinople is the
port of the ^gean Sea. After xhaving worshipped at the se-
pulchre of the saint, we sailed to the island which is called
XindacopO'^s which means sixty oars, on account of the force
of the sea ; near it is the port and district of Finica. Thence
we sailed over the broad part of the Adriatic Seaf, to the city
of PafFus (Baffo), vvhich is in the isle of Cyprus, w^here all the
Apostles met after the ascension of our Lord, and held a
council for the arrangement of the affairs of the gospel, on
which occasion they sent forth St. Barnabas to preach ; after
"whose death St. Peter went thence to Joppa, and sowed the
seed of God's word there, before he ascended the episcopal
see of Antioch.
After leaving the isle of Cyprus, we w^ere tossed about by
tempestuous weather for seven days and seven nights, being
forced back one night almost to the spot from which we
sailed ; but after much suffering, by divine mercy, at sun- rise
on the eighth day, w^e saw before us the coast of the port of
Joppa, which filled us with an unexpected and extraordinary
joy. Thus, after a course of thirteen weeks, as we took ship
at Monopoli, on a Sunday, having dw^elt constantly on the
waves of the sea, or in islands, or in deserted cots and sheds
(for the Greeks are not hospitable), we put into the port of
Joppa, with great rejoicings and thanksgivings, on a Sunday];.
And now, my dear friends, all join with me in thanking
God for his mercy show^n to me through this long voyage ;
blessed be his name now and evermore ! Listen now to a
new instance of his mercy shown to me, although the lowest
of his servants, and to my companions. The very day w^e
came in sight of the port, one said to me (I believe by divine
inspiration), " Sir, go on shore to-day, lest a storm come on
in the night, which will render it impossible to land to-
morrow." When I heard this, I was suddenly seized with a
great desire of landing, and, having hired a boat, went into it,
with all my companions ; but, before I had reached the shore,
the sea was troubled, and became continually more tempestu-
ous. We landed, however, with God's grace, without hurt,
and entering the city weary and hungry, we secured a lodging,
and reposed ourselves that night. But next morning, as we
* This is evidently Khelidonia.
+ This term was then applied to all the eastern part of the Mediterranean,
^ Sunday, Oct. 12, 1102.
A.D. 1102.] THE STOEM. 35
were returning from church, we heard the roaring of the sea,
and the shouts of the people, and saw that every body was in
confusion and astonishment. We were also dragged along
with the crowd to the shore, where we saw the waves swell-
ing higher than mountains, and innumerable bodies of drowned
persons of both sexes scattered over the beach, while the
fragments of ships were floating on every side. Nothing was
to be heard but the roaring of the sea and the dashing toge-
ther of the ships, which drowned entirely the shouts and
clamour of the people. Our own ship, which was a very large
and strong one, and many others laden with corn and mer-
chandise, as well as with pilgrims coming and returning, still
held by their anchors, but how they were tossed by the waves !
how their crews were filled with terror ! how they cast over-
board their merchandise ! what eye of those who were looking
on could be so hard and stony as to refrain from tears ? We
had not looked at them long before the ships were driven
from their anchors by the violence of the waves, which threw
them now up aloft, and now down, until they were run aground
or upon the rocks, and there they were beaten backwards and
forwards until they were crushed to pieces. For the violence
of the wind would not allow them to put out to sea, and the
character of the coast would not allow them to^put into shore
with safety. Of the sailors and pilgrims who had lost all hope
of escape, some remained on the ships, others laid hold of the
masts or beams of wood ; many remained in a state of stupor,
and were drowned in that condition without any attempt to save
themselves ; some (although it may appear incredible) had in
my sight their heads knocked off by the very timbers of the
ships to which they had attached themselves for safety ; others
were carried out to sea on the beams, instead of being brought
to land ; even those who knew how to swim had not strength
to struggle with the waves, and very few thus trusting to their
own strength reached the shore alive. Thus, out of thirty
very large ships, of vv^hich some were what are commonly
called dromunds, some gulafres, and others cats -i^, all laden
* These were the names of ships in the middle ages, of large dimensions,
"but for which it would be difficult to assign any thing like equivalents from
our modern naval nomenclature. The title of palmer {palmarius) was given,
from an early period, to the pilgrims to the Holy Land ; it is said, on account
of the palm branches or leaves which they usually brought back with them
as signs that they had performed the pilgrimage.
D 2
36 S^WULF. [a.d. 1102.
with palmers and with merchandise, scarcely seven remained
safe when we left the shore. Of persons of both sexes, there
perished more than a thousand that daj. Indeed, no eye
ever beheld a greater misfortune in the space of a single day,
from all which God snatched us by his grace ; to whom be
honour and glory for ever. Amen.
We went up from Joppato the city of Jerusalem, a journey
of two days, by a mountainous road, very rough, and danger-
ous on account of the Saracens, who lie in wait in the caves
of the mountains to surprise the Christians, watching both
day and night to surprise those less capable of resisting by
the smallness of their company, or the weary, who may
chance to lag behind their companions. At one moment, you
see them on every side ; at another, they are altogether in-
visible, as may be witnessed by any body travelling there.
Numbers of human bodies lie scattered in the way, and by the
way-side, torn to piecey by wild beasts. Some may, perhaps,
wonder that the bodies of Christians are allowed to remain
unburied, but it is not surprising when we consider that there
is not much earth on the hard rock to dig a grave ; and if
earth were not wanting, who would be so simple as to leave
his company, and go alone to dig a grave for a companion ?
Indeed, if he did so, he w^ould rather be digging a grave for
himself than for the dead man. For on that road, not only
the poor and weak, but the rich and strong, are surrounded
wdth perils ; many are cut off by the Saracens, but more by
heat and thirst ; many perish by the want of drink, but more
by too much drinking. We, however, with all our company,
reached the end of our journey in safety. Blessed be the
Lord, who did not turn away my prayer, and hath not turned
his mercy from me. Amen.
The entrance to the city of Jerusalem is from the west,
under the citadel of king David, by the gate which is called
the gate of David. The hrst place to be visited is the church
of the Holy Sepulchre, which is called the Martyrdom, not
only because the streets lead most directly to it, but because
it is more celebrated than all the other churches ; and that
rightly and justly, for all the things which were foretold and
forewritten by the holy prophets of our Saviour Jesus Christ
were there actually fulfilled. The church itself was royally
and magnificently built, after the discovery of our Lord's
cross, by the archbishop Maximus, with the patronage of the
A.D. 1102.] JERUSALEM THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 37
emperor Constantine, and his mother Helena. In the mid-
dle of this church is our Lord's Sepulchre, surrounded by a
very strong wall and roof, lest the rain should fall upon the
Holy Sepulchre, for the church above is open to the sky.
This church is situated, like the city, on the declivity of
Mount Sion. The Roman emperors Titus and Vespasian,
to revenge our Lord, entirely destroyed the city of
Jerusalem, that our Lord's prophecy might be fulfilled,
which, as he approached Jerusalem, seeing the city, he pro-
nounced, weeping over it, " If thou hadst known, even thou,
for the day shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall
cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep
thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the
ground, and thy children with thee; and they shall not
leave in thee one stone upon another."* We know that our
Lord suffered without the gate. But the emperor Hadrian,
who was called ^lius, rebuilt the city of Jerusalem, and the
Temple of the Lord, and added to the city as far as the Tower
of David, which was previously a considerable distance from
the city, for any one may see from the Mount of Olivet where
the extreme western walls of the city stood originally, and
how much it is since increased. And the emperor called the
city after his own name ^lia, which is interpreted the House
of God. Some, however, say that the city w^s rebuilt by the
emperor Justinian, and also the Temple of the Lord as it is
now ; but they say that according to supposition, and not ac-
cording to truth. For the Assyrians f, whose fathers dwelt in
that country from the first persecution, say that the city was
taken and destroyed many times after our Lord's Passion,
along with all the churches, but not entirely defaced.
In the court of the church of our Lord's sepulchre are seen
some very holy places, namely, the prison in which our Lord Jesus
Christ was confined after he was betrayed, according to the testi-
mony of the Assyrians ; then, a little above, appears the place
where the holy cross and the other crosses were found, where
afterwards a large church was built in honour of queen Helena,
but which has since been utterly destroyed by the Pagans ;
and below, not far from the prison, stands the marble column
to which our Lord Jesus Christ was bound in the common
* Luke, xlx. 42-44.
f By the Assyrians, who are subsequently mentioned more than once, we
are to understand the Syrian Christians, as distinguished from the Grreeks.
38 S.EWULF. [a.d. 1102*
hall, and scourged with most cruel stripes. Near this is the
spot where our Lord was stripped of his garments hy the
soldiers ; and next, the place where he was clad in a purple
vest hy the soldiers, and crowned with the crown of thorns,
and they cast lots for his garments. Next we ascend Mount
Calvary, where the patriarch Abraham raised an altar, and
prepared, by God's command, to sacrifice his own son ; there
afterwards the Son of God, whom he prefigured, was offered
up as a sacrifice to God the Father for the redemption of the
world. The rock of that mountain remains a witness of our
Lord's passion, being much cracked near the foss in which
our Lord's cross was fixed, because it could not suffer the
death of its Maker without splitting, as we read in the Pas-
sion, " and the rocks rent."-:^ Below is the place called Gol-
gotha,where Adam is said to have been raised to life by the blood
of our Lord which fell upon him, as is said in the Passion,
*' And many bodies of the saints wiiich slept arose. "f But in
the Sentences of St. Augustine, we read that he was buried
in Hebron, where also the three patriarchs were afterwards
buried with their mves ; Abraham with Sarah, Isaac with
Rebecca, and Jacob with Leah ; as w^ell as the bones of Jo-
seph, which the Children of Israel carried with them from
Egypt. Near the place of Calvary is the church of St. Mary,
on the spot where the body of our Lord, after having been
taken down from the cross, was anointed before it was buried,
^nd wrapped in a linen cloth or shroud.
At the head of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the
w^all outside, not far from the place of Calvary, is the place
called Compas, which our Lord Jesus Christ himself signified
and measured with his own hand as the middle of the world,
according to the words of the Psalmist, " For God is my king
of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. " I But some
say that that is the place where our Lord Jesus Christ first ap-
peared to Mary Magdalene, while she sought him weeping, and
thought be had been a gardener, as is related in the Gospel.
These most holy places of prayer are contained in the court of
our Lord's Sepulchre, on the east side. In the sides of the
church itself are attached, on one side and the other, two most
beautiful chapels in honour of St. Mary and St. John, as they,
participating in our Lord's sufferings, stationed themselves be-
- * Matth. xxvii. 51. t lb- 52. t Psal. Ixxiv. 12.
A.D. 1102.] THE HOSPITAL THE TEMPLE. 30
side liim here and there. On the west wall of the chapel of St.
Mary is seen the picture of our Lord's Mother, painted ex-
ternally, who once, by speaking wonderfully through the Holy
Spirit, in the form in which she is here painted, comforted Mary
the Egyptian, when she repented with her whole heart, and
sought the help of the Mother of our Lord, as we read in her
life. On the other side of the church of St. John is a very
fair monastery of the Holy Trinity, in which is the place of
the baptistery, to v/hich adjoins the chapel of St. John the
Apostle, who first filled the pontifical see at Jerusalem. These
are all so composed and arranged, that any one standing in
the furthest church may clearly perceive the five churches
from door to door.
Without the gate of the Holy Sepulchre, to the south, is
the church of St. Mary, called the Latin, because the
monks there perform divine service in the Latin tongue;
and the Assyrians say that the blessed Mother of our Lord,
at the crucifixion of her Son, stood on the spot now occupied
by the altar of this church. Adjoining to this church is an-
other church of St. Mary, called the Little, occupied by nuns
who serve devoutly the Virgin and her Son. Near which is
the Hospital, where is a celebrated monastery founded in honour
of St. John the Baptist.
We descend from our Lord's sepulchre, about the distance
of two arbalist- shots, to the Temple of the Lord, which is to
the east of the Holy Sepulchre, the court of which is of great
length and breadth, having many gates ; but the principal
gate, which is in front of the Temple, is called the Beautiful,
on account of its elaborate workmanship and variety of co-
lours, and is the spot where Peter healed Claudius, when he
and John went up into the Temple at the ninth hour of
prayer, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles. The place
where Solomon built the Temple was called anciently Bethel;
whither Jacob repaired by God's command, and where he
dwelt, and saw the ladder whose summit touched heaven, and
the angels ascending and descending, and said, " Truly this
place is holy," as we read in Genesis. There he raised a
stone as a memorial, and constructed an altar, and poured oil
upon it; and in the same place afterwards, by God's will, So-
lomon built a temple to the Lord of magnificent and incom«
parable work, and decorated it wonderfully with every orna-
ment, as we read in the Book of Kings. It exceeded all the
40 S.EWULF. [a.D. 110*2.
mountains around in height, and all Avails and buildings in
brilliancy and glory. In the middle of which temple is seen
a high and large rock, hollowed beneath, in which was the
Holy of Holies. In this place Solomon placed the Ark of the
Covenant, having the Manna and the Rod of Aaron, which
flourished and budded there and produced almonds, and
the two Tables of the Testament ; here our Lord Jesus Christ,
wearied with the insolence of the Jews, was accustomed to
repose ; here was the place of confession, where his disciples
confessed themselves to him ; here the angel Gabriel ap-
peared to Zacharias, saying, " Thou shalt receive a child in
thy old age ;" here Zacharias, the son of Barachias, was slain
between the temple and the altar ; here the child Jesus was
circumcised on the eighth day, and named Jesus, which is in
terpreted Saviour ; hero the Lord Jesus was offered by his
parents, with the Virgin Mary, on the day of her purification,
and received by the aged Simeon ; here, also, when Jesus
was twelve years of age, he was found sitting in the midst of
the doctors, hearing and interrogating them, as we read in the
Gospel ; here afterwards he cast out the oxen, and sheep, and
pigeons, saying, '' My house shall be a house of prayer;'' and
here he said to the Jews, *' Destroy this temple, and in
three days I will raise it up." There still are seen in the
rock the footsteps of our Lord, when he concealed himself,
and went out from the Temple, as we read in the Gospel,
lest the Jews should throw at him the stones they carried.
Thither the woman taken in adultery was brought before
Jesus by the Jews, that they might find some accusation
against him^^. There is the gate of the city on the eastern
side of the Temple, which is called the Golden, where Joa-
chim, the father of the Blessed Mary, by order of the Angel
of the Lord, met his wife Anne. By the same gate the Lord
Jesus, coming from Bethany on the day of olives, sitting on
an ass, entered the city of Jerusalem, while the children sang,
*'Hosanna to the son of David." By this gate the emperor
Heraclius entered Jerusalem, when he returned victorious
from Persia, with the cross of our Lord ; but the stones first
fell down and closed up the passage, so that the gate became
one mass, until humbling himself at the admonition of an
angel, he descended from his horse, and so the entrance was
* John, ii. 19.
A.D. 1102.] THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT. 41
opened to him. In the court of the Temple of the Lord, to
the south, is the Temple of Solomon, of wonderful magnitude,
on the east side of which is an oratory containing the cradle
of Christ, and his hath, and the hed of the Virgin Mary, ac-
cording to the testimony of the Assyrians^-'.
From the Temple of the Lord you go to the church of St.
Anne, the mother of the Blessed Mary, towards the north,
where she lived w^ith her husband, and she was there de-
livered of her daughter Mary. Near it is the pool called in
Hebrew Bethsaida, having five porticoes, of which the Gospel
speaks. A little above is the place where the woman was
healed by our Lord, by touching the hem of his garment,
while he was surrounded by a crowd in the street f.
From St. Anne we pass through the gate which leads to
the Valley of Jehoshaphat, to the church of St. Mary in the
same valley, where she was honourably buried by the Apostles
after her death; her sepulchre, as is just and proper, is re-
vered with the greatest honours by the faithful, and monks
perform service there day and night. Here is the brook
Cedron; here also is Gethsemane, where our Lord came
with his disciples from Momit Sion, over the brook
Cedron, before the hour of his betrayal ; there is a certain
oratory where he dismissed Peter, James, and John, saying,
*' Tarry ye here, and watch with me;" J: and going forward,
he fell on his face and prayed, and came to his disciples, and
found them sleeping : the places are still visible where the
disciples slept, apart from each other. Gethsemane is at the
foot of Mount Olivet, and the brook Cedron below, between
Mount Sion and Mount Olivet, as it were the division of the
mountains ; and the low ground between the mountains is the
Valley of Jehoshaphat. A little above, in Mount Olivet, is an
* It may be necessary to remind the reader that the building of which
Ssewulf is here talking was the Mosque of Omar, which, during the long
period that Jerusalem had remained in the hands of the Saracens, had been
entirely closed from the examination of Christians. Now that the Holy City
had fallen under the power of the Crusaders, it was thrown open to public
inspection, and the monks appear to have laboured industriously to identify
every part of the Saracenic edifice with the events of Scripture. Probably
some portions of the ancient building were worked up into the Mohammedan
mosque ; but Saewulf 's description will show us how cautious we ought to be
in receiving these traditionary identifications of the localities of Scripture
history.
t Matth. ix. 20. J Matth. xxvi. 38.
43 S^WULF. [a.d. 1102.
oratory in the place where our Lord prayed, as we read in
the Passion, "And he was withdrawn from them about a
stone's cast, and being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly,
and his sweat was, as it w^ere, great drops of blood falling
down to the ground."-^ Next we come to Aceldama, the
field bought with the price of the Lord, also at the foot of
Mount Olivet, near a valley about three or four arbalist-
shots to the south of Gethsemane, where are seen innumer-
able monuments. That field is near the sepulchres of the
holy fathers Simeon the Just and Joseph the foster-father of
our Lord. These two sepulchres are ancient structures, in
the manner of towers, cut into the foot of the mountain itself.
We next descend, by Aceldama, to the fountain which is
called the Pool of Siloah, w^here, by our Lord's command, the
man born blind washed his eyes, after the Lord had anointed
them with clay and spittle.
From the church of St. Mary before mentioned, we go up
by a very steep path nearly to the summit of Mount Olivet,
towards the east, to the place whence our Lord ascended to
heaven in the sight of his disciples. The place is sur-
rounded by a little tower, and honourably adorned, with an
altar raised on the spot within, and also surrounded on all
sides with a wall. On the spot where the Apostles stood with
his mother, wondering at his ascension, is an altar of St. Mary;
there the two men in white garments stood by them, saying,
**Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven?'*
About a stone's throw from that place is the spot where, ac-
cording to the Assyrians, our Lord wrote the Lord's Prayer
in Hebrew, with his own fingers, on marble ; and there a
very beautiful church was built, but it has since been entirely
destroyed by the Pagans, as are all the churches outside the
walls, except the church of the Holy Ghost on Mount Sion,
about an arrow-shot from the wall to the north, where the
Apostles received the promise of the Father, namely, the
Paraclete Spirit, on the day of Pentecost ; there they made
the Creed. In that church is a chapel in the place where
the Blessed Mary died. On the other side of the church is
the chapel where our Lord Jesus Christ first appeared to the
Apostles after his resurrection, and it is called Galilee, as he
said to the Apostles, *' After I am risen again, I will go be-
* Luke, xxii. 41-44.
A.D. 1102.] GALILEE CHUECH OF THE HOLY CROSS. 43
fore you unto Galilee."* That place was called Galilee, be-
cause the Apostles, who were called Galileans, frequently rested
there.
The great city of Galilee is by Mount Tabor, a journey
of three days from Jerusalem. On the other side of Mount
Tabor is the city called Tiberias, and after it Capernaum and
Nazareth, on the sea of Galilee or sea of Tiberias, whither
Peter and the other Apostles, after the resurrection, returned
to their fishing, and where the Lord afterwards showed him-
self to them on the sea. Near the city of Tiberias is the
field where the Lord Jesus blessed the five loaves and two
fishes, and afterwards fed four thousand men with them, as
we read in the Gospel. But I will return to my immediate
subject.
In the Galilee of Mount Sion, where the Apostles were
concealed in an inner chamber, with closed doors, for fear of
the Jews, Jesus stood in the middle of them and said, *' Peace
be unto you;"f and he again appeared there when Thomas
put his finger into his side and into the place of the nails.
There he supped with his disciples before the Passion, and
washed their feet; and the marble table is still preserved
there on which he supped. There the relics of St. Stephen,
Nicodemus, Gamaliel, and Abide, were honourably deposited
by St. John the Patriarch after they were found. The stoning
of St. Stephen took place about two or three arbalist-shots with-
out the wall, to the north, where a very handsome church was
built, which has been entirely destroyed by the Pagans. The
church of the Holy Cross, about a mile to the west of Jerusalem,
in the place where the holy cross was cut out, and which was
also a very handsome one, has been similarly laid waste by
the Pagans ; but the destruction here fell chiefly on the
surrounding buildings and the cells of the monks, the church
itself not having suffered so much. Under the wall of the
city, outside, on the declivity of Mount Sion, is the church of
St. Peter, which is called the Galilean, where, after having
denied his Lord, he hid himself in a very deep crypt, as
may still be seen there, and there wept bitterly for his offence.
About three miles to the west of the church of the Holy
* Matth. xxvi. 32. It is hardly necessary to state that the giving the
name of Galilee to this church was a mere legendary blunder, originating in
the desire to crowd several holy places in one spot.
t John, XX. 19.
44 SJEWULF. [a.d. 1102.
Cross is a very fine and large monastery in honour of St.
Saba, who was one of the seventy-two disciples of our Lord
Jesus Christ. There were above three hundred Greek monks
living there, in the service of the Lord and of the Saint, of
whom the greater part have been slain by the Saracens, and
the few who remain have taken up their abode in another
monastery of the same Saint, within the walls of the city,
near the tower of David, their other monastery being left
entirely desolate.
The city of Bethlehem in Judea is six miles to the north
of Jerusalem. The Saracens have left nothing there habitable,
but every thing is destroyed (as in the other holy places with-
out the walls of the city of Jerusalem) except the monastery
of the blessed Virgin Mary, which is a large and noble
building. In the church there is a crypt under the choir,
about the middle, in which is seen the place of our Lord's
nativity, as it were to the left. A little lower, to the right,
near the place of the nativity, is the manger where the ox
and ass stood when the child was placed before them in it ;
and the stone which supported the head of our Saviour in the
sepulchre, which was brought hither from Jerusalem by St.
Jerome the Presbyter, may be seen in the manger. St. Jerome
himself rests in the same church, under the altar, to the
north-east; and the innocents who were slain for the infant
Christ, by Herod, lie under the altar on the north part of the
church, as well as the two most holy women, Paula and her
daughter Eustochium, the virgin. There is the marble table
on which the blessed Virgin Mary eat with the three Magians, ■
after they had given their offerings. There is a cistern in the
church, near the crypt of our Lord's nativity, into which the
star is said to have fallen. There, also, is said to be the bath
of the blessed Virgin Mary.
Bethany, where Lazarus w^as raised by our Lord from the
dead, is distant from the city about two miles to the east, on
the other side of Mount OUvet, and contains the church of
St. Lazarus, in which is seen his sepulchre, as well as those
of many bishops of Jerusalem. Under the altar is the place
where Mary Magdalene washed the feet of our Lord Jesus with
her tears, and wiped them with her hair, and kissed his feet and
anointed them with ointment. Bethphage, where our Lord
sent forward his disciples to the city, is on Mount Olivet, but
nearly all traces of it have disappeared. Jericho, where is the
A.B. 1102.] JERICHO ^JORDAN — HEBRON. 45
garden of Abraham, is ten leagues from Jerusalem, in a land
covered with trees, and producing all kinds of palms and other
fruits. There is the well of the prophet Elisha, the water of
which was most bitter to drink and productive of sterility, until
he blessed it and threw salt into it, when it became sweet. This
place is surrounded on every side by a beautiful plain. From
thence we ascend a lofty mountain, to the spot where our Lord
fasted forty days, and where he was afterwards tempted by
Satan, about three miles from Jericho.
The river Jordan is four leagues to the east of Jericho.
On this side Jordan is the region called Judea, as far as the
Adriatic Sea, that is, to the port which is called Joppa ; on
the other side Jordan is Arabia, most hostile to Christians,
and hateful to all who worship God, in which is the mountain
whence Elijah was carried into heaven in a fiery chariot.
It is eighteen days' journey from Jordan to Mount Sinai,
where the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and
where, afterw^ards, Moses ascended by God's command, and
was there fasting forty days and as many nights, and there
received from the Lord the tw^o stone tables, written by the
finger of God, to teach the Children of Israel the law and the
commandments, which w^ere contained in the same tables.
Hebron, where the holy patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob repose, each with his wife, and where Adam, the first
of mankind, is also buried, is distant from Bethlehem four
leagues to the south. Here king David reigned seven years,
before he obtained possession of the city of Jerusalem from
the family of king Saul. The city of Hebron, which was
large and very handsome, is destroyed by the Saracens. On
the eastern side of it the monuments of the holy patriarchs,
of ancient workmanship, are surrounded by a very strong castle,
each of the three monuments being like a great church, with
two sarcophagi placed in a very honourable manner within,
that is, one for the man and one for the woman ; and, even at
the present day, the smell of the balsam and precious aro-
matics with which the bodies were anointed, rising sweetly
from the sepulchre, fills the nostrils of those who stand round
them. But the bones of Joseph, which the Children of Israel,
us he had charged them, brought with them out of Egypt, are
buried, more humbly than the rest, as it were, at the extre-
mity of the castle. The holm-oak, under the shade of which
Abraham stood when he saw the three youths descending by
46 s^wuLF. [a.d. 1102.
the road, still flourishes and bears leaves, according to the
statement of the inhabitants of the place, not far distant from
the aforesaid castle.
The city of Nazareth of Galilee, where the blessed Virgin
Mary received the salutation of our Lord's nativity from the
angel, is about four days' journey from Jerusalem, the road
lying through Sichem, a city of Samaria, v/hich is now called
Neapolis, vrhere St. John the Baptist received sentence of
decollation from Herod. There, also, is the well of Jacob,
where Jesus, weary with his journey, thirsty, and sitting upon,
the well, condescended to ask water of the Samaritan woman
who came thither to draw it, as we read in the Gospel. From
Sichem we come to Caesarea of Palestine, from Csesarea to
Cayphas -i', and from Cayphas to Accaronf. Nazareth is about
eight miles to the east of Accaron. The city of Nazareth is
entirely laid waste and overthrown by the Saracens ; but the
place of the annunciation of our Lord is indicated by a very
noble monastery. A most limpid fountain bubbles out near
the city, still surrounded, as formerly, with marble columns
and blocks, from which the child Jesus, with other children,
often drew water for the use of his mother.
From Nazareth we proceed about four miles to the east, to
Mount Tabor, the scene of our Lord's transfiguration, which
is covered in an extraordinary manner with grass and flowers,
and rises in the middle of the green plain of Galilee so as to
exceed in altitude all the mountains which, though at a
distance, surround it. On the summit still remain three
ancient monasteries ; one in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ ;
another in honour of Moses ; and a third, at some distance
from the others, in honour of Elias, according to the words of
Peter, " Lord, it is good for us to be here ; if thou wilt, let us
make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses,
and one for Elias. ";]:
The sea of Galilee is about six miles from Mount Tabor to
the east and north-east, and is about ten miles long by five in
breadth. The city of Tiberias stands on the sea-shore on one
side, and on the other side are Corozaim and Bethsaida, the
city of Andrew and Peter. About four miles to the north-
east of the city of Tiberias is the castle of Gennesareth, where
the Lord appeared to the disciples when fishing, as we learn
* Kaiffa. t Acre. t Matth. xyii. 4.
A.B. 1103.] TIBERIAS — MOUNT LIBANUS. 47
from the Gospel. About two miles to the east of Gennesareth
is the mount on which our Lord Jesus fed five thousand men
with five loaves and two fishes. This mount is called by
the inhabitants our Lord's table ; and at its foot stands a very
beautiful church of St. Peter, but deserted. Six miles to the
north-east of Nazareth, on a hill, is Cana of Galilee, where our
Lord converted water into wine at the marriage feast. There
nothing is left standing except the monastery called that of
Architriclinius'!'. About half way between Nazareth and
Galilee is a castle which is called Roma, where all travellers
from Accaron to Tiberias are lodged, having Nazareth on the
right, and Galilee to the left.
A day's journey to the north-east of Tiberias is Mount
Libanus, at the foot of which the river Jordan boils out from
two foundations, of which one is called Jor, and the other
Dan ; the streams of which, joining in one, become a very
rapid river, and take the name of Jordan. Its origin is near
Caesarea, the city of Philip the Tetrarch, in the district
where Jesus, as is related in the Gospel, interrogated his
disciples, saying, '* Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man,
am?"f Now the river Jordan, flowing from its spring with
a very rapid course, falls into the sea of Galilee on one side,
and passing out of it on the opposite side, by tlie violence of
its current, makes itself a bed, through w^hich it runs a
distance of eight days' journey, and then falls into the Dead
Sea. The water of the Jordan is whiter and more of a milky
colour than any other water, and it may be distinguished by
its colour a long distance into the Dead Sea.
Having, to the best of our power, visited and paid our
devotion at all the holy places in the city of Jerusalem and the
surrounding country, we took ship at Joppa on the day of
Pentecost I, on our return; but, fearing to meet the fleet of
the Saracens, we did not venture out into the open sea by the
same course we came, but sailed along the coast by several cities,
some of which have fallen into the hands of the Franks, while
* The medieval theologians made a proper name of Arcliitriclinius, or, as
they called him popularly, St. Architriclin, whom they looked upon as the
lord of the feast on the occasion alluded to, and the person in whose especial
favour Christ performed the miracle. It is hardly necessarj^ to say that
arcMtriclinus is the Latin word which, in the Yulgate, translates what the
English text terms " the ruler of the feast."
t Matth. xvi. 13. t May 17, 1103.
48 stewulf. [a.d. 1103.
others still remain in the power of the Saracens. Their names
are as follows : — First, after Joppa, is the town called popularly
Atsuph, hut in Latin, Azotum ; next, Csesarea of Palestine ;
and then Cayphas. Baldwin, the flower of kings, has posses-
sion of these cities. Next after these is the very strong city
of Acre, which is called Accaron ; then Sur and Sagete, which
are Tyre and Sidon; then Jubelet; then Baruth; and then
Tartusa, which is in possession of duke Baimund. Next
Gibel, where are the mountains of Gilboa ; and then Tripolis
and Lice. We passed by all these cities*.
On the Wednesday of Pentecost, as we were sailing between
Cayphas and Accaron f, twenty-six ships of the Saracens sud-
denly came in sight, the forces of the admiral of Tyre and
Sidon, which were carrying an army to Babylonia to assist
the Chaldeans in making war on the king of Jerusalem ;
upon which two of our ships, which had come with us from
Joppa full of palmers, leaving our ship behind because they
were lighter, fled in all haste to Csesarea. The Saracens,
encircling our ship on all sides, at the distance of about an
arrow's shot, rejoiced in the prospect of such a rich prey ; but
our men, ready to meet death in the cause of Christ, took to
their arms, and stationed themselves as quickly as possible
on the castle of the ship ; for our dromund carried about two
hundred soldiers. After the space of about an hour, the
commander of the hostile fleet held a council, and sent a
sailor up the mast of his ship, which was the largest, that he
might give information of our condition and preparations ;
and as soon as he understood from him the bold countenance
we showed, they hoisted their sails and put out to sea, and so
that day the Lord by his grace snatched us from our enemies.
* The names of these cities, in the modern nomenclature, are Arsoiiph,
Kaisariyah, KaifFa, Akre, Sour, Sayd, Gjobayl, Bey rout, Tortus, Gebely,
Tripoli, and Laodicea, the latter of which was the place named by Ssewulf
Lice. Jacobus de Vitriaco (Hist. Hierosol., cap. 44) says, " Laodicia Syria?
nuncupata, vulgariter autem Liche nominatur." Our traveller, however,
perhaps by a confusion of his memory, having no map before him, has given
these places out of their right order. Perhaps, as M. B'Avezac suggests, the
fear of the Saracen cruisers drove him sometimes out of his right course.
Baldwin had been made king of Jerusalem on Christmas-day, in the year
1100. Tortosa was captured by Raymond, duke of Toulouse, on the 12th
of March, 1102.
f Acre was not taken by the crusaders till the 15th of May, 1104, the
year after our traveller's return.
A.D. 1103.] VOYAGE TO CONSTANTINOPLE. 49
Some of our people from Joppa afterwards took three of the
ships we had seen, and enriched themselves with their spoils.
Thus making our way as well as we could along the coast
of Syria, in eight days we reached the port of St. Andrew,
in the isle of Cyprus * ; and thence, next day, w^e sailed to-
wards Romania, passing the port of St. Simon, and the port of
St. Mary, and after many days reached Little Antiochf. In
tliis part of the voyage w^e were several times attacked by
j)irates ; but, under the Divine protection, we escaped unhurt
from the attacks of enemies and the shocks of tempests.
Then directing our course along the coast of Romania, and
passing the towns of Stamirra| and Patras of St. Nicholas,
we with difficulty reached the island of Rhodes on the eve of
St. John the Baptist §, after a narrow escape from wreck in
the bay of Satalia. At Rhodes we hired a smaller ship, that
we might proceed more rapidly, and then returned to the
coast of Romania. We then came to Stromlo||, a very fair
city, but entirely laid waste by the Turks, and there we were
detained many days by a strong contrary wind. Then we
came to the island of Samos, and having bought provisions
there, as we did in all the islands, we arrived at length at
the island of Scio, where we parted with our ship and
company, and undertook the journey to Constantinople, to
perform our devotions there. After leaving Scio, we passed by
the great town of Smyrna, and came to the island of Meteline,
and then to TenitH, near which, on the coast of Romania,
was the very ancient and famous city of Troy, the ruins of the
buildings of which, as the Greeks say, are still apparent over
a space of many miles.
After leaving this place, we came to the narrow sea which
is called the arm of St. George, which divides the two lands,
Romania and Macedonia, through which we sailed to St.
Phemius, having Greece to the right, and Macedonia to the
left. The city of St. Phemius the bishop is on one side of
* Cape St. Andrea is the north-eastern point of the island of Cyprus.
+ i. e. Antiochetta.
Z Stamina is the same place which Saswulf has before called Myra.
M. D'Avezac points out documents of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,
in which it is named Astamirle, Stamire, and Stamir.
§ June 23.
II Stromlo, as M. D'Avezac observes, is evidently the ancient Astypalaea,
now called Stampali.
^ Tenit is the island of Tenedos.
50 SIGURD THE CRUSADEE. [A.D. 1107.
the arm, in Macedonia, and another city, which is called
Samthe, stands on the other side in Greece, so that two or
three arbalist-shots would reach from one city to the other -s^.
They are said to be the keys of Constantinople. Then we
sailed by Callipolis, and Agios Georgios, and Paniados, and
other notable castles of Macedonia, and came to the city of
Rothostoca, after Michaelmas. We came next to the noble
city of Raclea, whence, according to the Greeks, Helen was
ravished by Paris Alexander f.
THE SAGA OF SIGURD THE CRUSADER.
A.D. 1107—1111.
(from the Heimskringla, or Chronicle oe the Kings of Norway,
BY Samuel Laing, Esq.)
After king Magnus Barefoot's fall, his sons, Eystein, Sigurd,
and Olaf j, took the kingdom of Norway. Eystein got the
northern, and Sigurd the southern parts of the country. King
Olaf was then four or five years old, and the third part of the
country which he had was under the management of his two
brothers. King Sigurd was chosen king when he was thirteen
or fourteen years old, and Eystein v/as a year older. When
king Magnus's sons were chosen kings, the men who had fol-
lowed Skopte Ogmundsson returned home. Some had been
to Jerusalem, some to Constantinople ; and there they had
made themselves renowned, and they had many kinds of no-
velties to talk about. By these extraordinary tidings many
men in Norway were incited to the same expedition ; and it
was also told that the Northmen who liked to go into the
military service at Constantinople found many opportunities
of getting property. Then these Northmen desired much
that one of the two kings, either Eystein or Sigurd, should
go as commander of the troop which was preparing for this
* M. D'Avezac suggests that perhaps St. Euphemius and Samthe represent
the ancient Eleonta on one coast, and the ancient ^antium, near the mouth of
the Xanthus, on the other.
+ Ssewulf's relation seems to break off abruptly here, probably by the
fault of the scribe ; but, unfortunately, we know of no other manuscript that
might furnish us with an account of his adventures at Constantinople on his
return home.
X They reigned from about 1103 to about 1130.
A.D. 1107, 1108.] ENGLAND — SPAIN. 61
expedition. The kings agreed to this, and carried on the
equipment at their common expense. Many great men, both
of the lendermen and bonders, took part in this enterprize ;
and when all was ready for the journey, it was determined
that Sigurd should go, and Eystein, in the mean time, should
rule the kingdom upon their joint account.
A year or two after king Magnus's fall, Hakon, a son of
earl Paul, came from Orkney. The kings gave him the earl-
dom and government of the Orkney Islands, as the earls
before him, his father Paul or his uncle Erlend, had pos-
sessed it ; and earl Hakon then sailed back immediately ta
Orkney.
Four years after the fall of king Magnus, king Sigurd sailed
with his fleet of sixty ships from Norway. So says Thorarin
Stutfeld :—
^' A young king just and kind,
People of loyal mind :
Such brave men soon agree, —
To distant lands they sail with glee.
To the distant Holy Land
A brave and pious band,
Magnificent and gay,
In sixty long ships glide away."
King Sigurd sailed in autumn to England, where Henry,
son of William the Bastard, was then king, and Sigurd re-
mained with him all winter. So says Einar Skuleson : —
'' The king is on the waves !
The storm he boldly braves.
His ocean steed,
With winged speed,
O'er the white-flashing surges,
To England's coast he urges ;
And there he stays the winter o'er :
More gallant king ne'er trod that shore."
In spring ^- king Sigurd and his fleet sailed w^estward to Val-
landf, and in autumn came to Galicia|, where he staid the
second winter. So says Einar Skuleson : —
" Our king, whose land so wide
No kingdom stands beside,
In Jacob's land§ next winter spent.
On holy things intent ;
* A.D. 1108. f Yalland, the west of France.
X Galizo land, the province of Gfalicia, in the north-west of Spain.
§ Jacob's land. Galicia is called Jacob's land by the scald, from St. James
of Compostella : the apostle James, whose relics are held in veneration at
E 2
53 SIGURD THE CRUSADER. [a.D. 1109.
And I have heard the royal youth
Cut off an earl who swerved from truth.
Our brave king will endure no ill, —
The hawks with him will get their fill.'*
It went thus: — The earl who ruled over the land made an
agreement with king Sigurd, that he should provide king
Sigurd and his men a market at which they could purchase
victuals all the winter ; but this he did not fulfil longer than
to about Yule. It began then to be difficult to get food and
necessaries, for it is a poor barren land. Then king Sigurd
wdth a great body of men went against a castle which belonged
to the earl ; and the earl fled from it, having but few people.
King Sigurd took there a great deal of victuals and of other
booty, which he put on board of his ships, and then made
ready and proceeded westward to Spain. It so fell out, as
the king was sailing past Spain, that some pirates who were
cruising for plunder met him with a fleet of galleys, and king
Sigurd attacked them. This was his first battle with heathen
men ; and he won it, and took eight galleys from them. So
says Halldor Skualldre : —
" Bold Askings, not slow
To the death-fray to go.
Meet our Norse king by chance.
And their galleys advance.
The bold vikings lost
Many a man of their host,
And eight galleys too,
With cargo and crew."
Thereafter king Sigurd sailed against a castle called
Sintre"^, and fought another battle. This castle is in Spain,
and was occupied by many heathens, who from thence plun-
dered Christian people. King Sigurd took the castle, and
killed every man in it, because they refused to be baptized ; and
he got there an immense booty. So sings Halldor Skualldre : —
" From Spain I have much news to tell
Of what our generous king befell.
And first he routs the viking crew.
At Cintra next the heathens slew ;
The men he treated as Grod's foes.
Who dared the true faith to oppose.
No man he spared who would not take
The Christian faith for Jesus' sake."
Compostella in Spain. Portugal appears to have been reckoned part of Spain,
and Gralicia a distinct country.
* Sintre, now Cintra, in Portugal ; then reckoned part of Spain,
A.D. 1109.] ADVENTURES IN SPAIN. 53
After this king Sigurd sailed with Lis fleet to Lisbon, which
is a great city in Spain, half Christian and half heathen ; for
there lies the division between Christian Spain and heathen
Spain-, and all the districts which lie west of the city are
occupied by heathens. There king Sigurd had his third bat-
tle with the heathens, and gained the victory, and with it a
great booty. So says Halldor Skualldre : —
" The son of kings on Lisbon's plains
A third and bloody battle gains.
He and his Norsemen boldly land,
Running their stout ships on the strand."
Then king Sigurd sailed westwards along heathen Spain,
and brought up at a town called Alkassif; and here he had
his fourth battle with the heathens, and took the town, and
killed so many people that the town was left empty. They
got there also immense booty. So says Halldor Skualldre : —
" A fourth great battle, I am told.
Our Norse king and his people hold
At Alkassi ; and here again
The victory fell to our Norsemen."
And also this verse : —
*^ I heard that through the town he went.
And heathen widows' wild lament ^
Eesounded in the empty halls ;
For every townsman flies or falls."
King Sigurd then proceeded on his voyage, and came to
Norfa Sound I; and in the Sound he was met by a large
viking force, and the king gave them battle : and this was his
fifth engagement with heathens since the time he left Norway.
So says Halldor Skualldre : —
" Ye moistened your dry swords with blood,
As through Niorfa Sound ye stood :
The screaming raven got a feast,
As ye sailed onward to the East."
* The heathen Spain would be the parts of the Peninsula occupied by the
Moors.
f There is some difficulty in finding a town corresponding to this Alkassi.
It cannot be Alkassir in Fez, in Africa, as some have supposed, as the context
does not agree with it ; nor with Algesiras, which is within the Straits of
Gibraltar (Norfasund), and it would have been so described. Alcasser de Sal
lies too far inland to have been the place. Lady Grosvenor, in her Yacht
Voyage, 1841, speaks of a Moorish palace near Seville, called Alcasir, which
%vould correspond best with the Saga account.
X Norfa Sound, the Straits of Gibraltar ; so called from Norfa, the first
Norse viking who passed through it.
54 SIGUKD THE CRUSADER. [a.D. 1109.
King Sigurd then sailed eastward along the coast of Serk-
land^^, and came to an island there called Formentara. There
a great many heathen Moors had taken up their dwelling in
a cave, and had built a strong stone- wall before its mouth. It
was high up to climb to the wall, so that whoever attempted
to ascend was driven back with stones or missile weapons.
They harried the country all round, and carried all their booty
to their cave. King Sigurd landed on this island, and went
to the cave ; but it lay in a precipice, and there was a high
winding path to the stone- wall, and the precipice above pro-
jected over it. The heathens defended the stone- wall, and
w^ere not afraid of the Northmen's arms ; for they could
throw stones, or shoot down upon the Northmen under their
feet : neither did the Northmen, under such circumstances,
dare to mount up. The heathens took their clothes and
other valuable things, carried them out upon the wall, spread
them out before the Northmen, shouted, and defied them,
and upbraided them as cowards. Then Sigurd fell upon this
plan : he had two ship's boats, such as we call barks, drawn
up the precipice right above the mouth of the cave ; and had
thick ropes fastened round the stem, stern, and hull of each.
In these boats as many men went as could find room, and then
the boats were lowered by the ropes down in front of the
mouth of the cave ; and the men in the boats shot with stones
and missiles into the cave, and the heathens were thus driven
from the stone-wall. Then Sigurd with his troops climbed up
the precipice to the foot of the stone-wall, which they suc-
ceeded in breaking down, so that they came into the cave.
Now the heathens fled within the stone-wall that was built
across the cave ; on which the king ordered large trees to be
brought to the cave, made a great pile in the mouth of it, and
set fire to the wood. When the fire and smoke got the upper
hand, some of the heathens lost their lives in it ; some fled ;
some fell by the hands of the Northmen; and part were killed,
part burned; and the Northmen made the greatest booty
they had got on all their expeditions. So says Halldor
Skualldre : —
" Formentara lay
In the victor s way ;
"* Serkland is the Saracen's land, the north of Africa ; and the inhabitants
"bluemen, the Moors.
A.D. 1109.] FORMENTAEA AND IVICA. 55
His ships' stems fly-
To victory.
The bluemen there
Must fire bear,
And Norsemen's steel
At their hearts feel."
And also thus : —
"'Twas a feat of renown, —
The boat lowered down.
With a boat's crew brave,
In front of the cave ;
"While up the rock scaling, *
And comrades up trailing.
The Norsemen gain,
And the bluemen are slain."
And also Thorarin Stuttfeld says : —
'^ The king's men up the mountain's side
Drag two boats from the ocean's tide :
The two boats lay,
Like hill-wolves gray.
Now o'er the rock in ropes they 're swinging,
Well manned, and death to bluemen bringing :
They hang before
The robbers' door."
Thereafter king Sigurd proceeded on his expedition, and
came to an island called Ivitsa (Ivica), and had there his
seventh hattle, and gained a victory. So says Halldor
Skualldre : —
'' His ships at Ivica now ride.
The king's, whose fame spreads far and wide ;
And here the bearers of the shield
Their arms again in battle wield."
Thereafter king Sigurd came to an island called Minorca,
and held there his eighth hattle with heathen men, and gained
the victory. So says Halldor Skualldre : —
*' On green Minorca's plains
The eighth battle now he gains :
Again the heathen foe
Falls at the Norse king's blow."
In spring king Sigurd came to Sicily, and remained a long
time there. There was then a duke Eoger in Sicily, who
received the king kindly, and invited him to a feast. King
Sigurd came to it with a great retinue, and was splendidly
entertained. Every day duke Eoger stood at the company's
table, doing service to the king ; but the seventh day of the
"56 . SIGUSD THE CRUSADER. [a.D. 1.109.
feast, when the people had come to table, and had wiped their
hands, king Sigurd took the duke by the hand, led him up to
the high seat, and saluted him with the title of king ; and
gave the right that there should be alwa^^s a king over the
dominion of Sicily, although before there had only been earls
or dukes over that country^.
It is written in the chronicles, that earl Eoger let himself
first be called the king of Sicily in the year of our Lord 1102,
having before contented himself with the title of earl only
of Sicily, although he w^as duke of Calabria and Apulia, and
w^as called Roger the Great ; and when he afterwards made
the king of Tunet or Tunis tributary to him, he had these
words engraved on his sword, —
" Apulus et Calaber, Siculus milii servit et Afer."
King Roger of Sicily was a very great king. He won and
subdued all Apulia, and many large islands besides in the
Greek sea; and therefore he was called Roger the Great.
His son was William, king of Sicily, who for a long time had
great hostility with the emperor of Constantinople. King
William had three daughters, but no son. One of his daugh-
ters he married to the emperor Henry, a son of the emperor
Frederic ; and their son was Frederic, who for a short time
after was emperor of Rome. His second daughter was married
to the duke of Kypurf. The third daughter, Margaret, was
married to the chief of the corsairs ; but the emperor Henry
killed both these brothers-in-law. The daughter of Roger the
Great, king of Sicily, was married to the emperor Manuel of
Constantinople; and their son was the emperor Kirialaxj.
In summer king Sigurd sailed across the Greek sea to
Palestine §, and came to Acre||, where he landed, and went by
land to Jerusalem^. Now when Baldwin, Idng of Palestine,
heard that king Sigurd would visit the city, he let valuable
clothes be brought and spread upon the road, and the nearer
* It appears to have been the feudal idea of the times, that a title or dig-
nity must be conferred by a superior in title or dignity ; and thus a wandering
king from the north could raise Roger of Sicily to the kingly title. [The
Norseman's account is a fable : the dignity of king of Sicily was given to
count Roger, in 1129, by the pope.]
+ Kypur, Cyprus.
Z Kirialax. Kuriou Alexou, the emperor Alexius Comnenus.
§ Jorsalaland, Palestine; the land of Jerusalem.
II Akersborg, Acre. •jl Jorsalaborg, Jerusalem.
AD. 1110.] SIGURD AREIVES AT JERUSALEM. 57
to the city the more valuable ; and said, " Now ye must know
that a celebrated king from the northern part of the earth is
come to visit us: and many are the gallant deeds and cele-
brated actions told of him, therefore we shall receive him
well ; and in doing so we shall also know his magnificence
and power. If he ride straight on to the city, taking little
notice of these splendid preparations, I will conclude that he
has enough of such things in his own kingdom ; but, on the
other hand, if he rides off the road, I shall not think so
highly of his royal dignity at home." Now king Sigurd rides
to the city with great state ; and when he saw this magnifi-
cence, he rode straight forward over the clothes, and told all
his men to do the same. King Baldwin received him parti-
cularly well, and rode with him all the way to the river Jor-
dan, and then back to the city of Jerusalem. Einar Skuleson
speaks thus of it: —
'^ Grood reason has the scald to sing
The generous temper of the king,
Whose sea-cold keel from Northern waves
Ploughs the blue sea that green isles laves.
At Acre scarce were we made fast.
In holy ground our anchors cast.
When the king made a joyful morn
To all who toil with him had borne."
And again he sang : —
'' To Jerusalem he came.
He who loves war's noble game,
(The scald no greater monarch finds
Beneath the heaven's wide hall of winds)
All sin and evil from him flings
In Jordan's wave : for all his sins
(Which all must praise) he pardon wins."
King Sigurd staid a long time in the land of Jerusalem in
autumn, and in the beginning of winter.
King Baldwin made a magnificent feast for king Sigurd
and many of his people, and gave him many holy relics. By
the orders of king Baldwin and the patriarch, there was taken
a splinter off the holy cross ; and on this holy relic both made
oath, that this wood was of the holy cross upon which God
himself had been tortured. Then this holy relic was given
to king Sigurd ; with the condition that he, and twelve other
men with him, should swear to promote Christianity with all
his power, and erect an archbishop's seat in Norway if he
could; and also that the cross should be kept where the holy
58 SIGURD THE CEUSADER. [a.D. 1110.
king Olaf reposed, and that he should introduce tithes, and
also pay them himself. After this king Sigurd returned ta
his ships at Acre ; and then king Baldwin prepared to go to
Syria, to a town called. Saet, which some think had been Sidon.
This castle, which belonged to the heathens, he wished to
conquer, and lay under the Christians. On this expedition
king Sigurd accompanied him with all his men, and sixty
ships ; and after the kings had besieged the town some time
it surrendered-''^, and they took possession of it, and of a great
treasure of money ; and their men found other booty. King
Sigurd made a present of his share to king Baldwin. So says
Halldor Skualldre : —
*' He who for wolves provides the feast
Seized on the city in the east^
The heathen nest ; and honour drew,
And gold to give, from those he slew.'*
Einar Skuleson also tells of it : —
" The Norsemen's king, the scalds relate.
Has ta'en the heathen town of Saet :
The slinging engine, with dread noise.
Gables and roofs with stones destroys.
The town wall totters too, — it falls ;
The Norsemen mount the blackened walls.
He who stains red the raven's bill
Has won, — the town lies at his will."
Thereafter king Sigurd went to his ships, and made ready
to leave Palestine. They sailed north to the island of Cyprus ;
and king Sigurd staid there awhile, and then went to the
Greek country, and came to the land with all his fleet at
Engilsnessf. Here he lay still for a fortnight, although
every day it blew a breeze for going before the wind to the
north ; but Sigurd would wait a side wind, so that the sails
might stretch fore and aft in the ship ; for in all his sails
there was silk joined in, before and behind in the sail, and
neither those before nor those behind the ships could see the
slightest appearance of this, if the vessel was before the
wind ; so they would rather wait a side wind.
When king Sigurd sailed into Constantinople, he steered
* Saide, or Sidon, was taken in December, 1110.
+ Engilsness, supposed to be the ness at the river ^gos, called iEgisnes
in the Orkneyinga Saga, within the Dardanelles ; not Cape Saint Angelo in
the Morea.
A.D. 1111.] CONSTANTINOPLE. 59
near the land. Over all the land there are burghs, castles,
country towns, the one upon the other without interval.
There from the land one could see into the bights of the
sails; and the sails stood so close beside each other, that they
seemed to form one inclosure. All the people turned out to
see king Sigurd sailing past. The emperor Alexius had also
heard of king Sigurd's expedition, and ordered the city port
of Constantinople to be opened, which is called the Gold
Tower, through which the emperor rides when he has been
long absent from Constantinople, or has made a campaign in
which he has been victorious. The emperor had precious
cloths spread out from the Gold Tower to Loktiar, which is
the name of the emperor's most splendid hall. King Sigurd
ordered his men to ride in great state into the city, and not
to regard all the new things they might see ; and this they
did. The emperor sent singers and stringed instruments to
meet them ; and with this great splendour king Sigurd and
his followers were received into Constantinople. It is told
that king Sigurd had his horse shod with golden shoes before
he rode into the city, and managed so that one of the shoes
came off in the street, but that none of his men should regard
it. When king Sigurd came to the magnificent hall, every
thing was in the grandest style ; and when king Sigurd's men
had come to their seats, and were ready to drink, the empe-
ror's messengers came into the hall, bearing between them
purses of gold and silver, which they said the emperor had
sent to king Sigurd ; but the king did not look upon it, but
told his men to divide it among themselves. When the mes-
sengers returned to the emperor, and told him this, he said,
" This king must be very powerful and rich not to care for
such things, or even give a word of thanks for them;" and
ordered them to return with great chests filled with gold.
They come again to king Sigurd, and say, " These gifts and
presents are sent thee from the emperor." King Sigurd said,
" This is a great and handsome treasure, my men ; divide it
among you." The messengers return and tell this to the
emperor. He replies, "This king must either exceed other
kings in power and wealth, or he has not so much understand-
ing as a king ought to have. Go thou now the third time,
and carry him the costliest purple, and these chests with or-
naments of gold:" to which he added two gold rings. Now
the messengers went again to king Sigurd, and told him the
60 SIGUED THE CRUSADER. [a.D. 1111.
emperor had sent him this great treasure. Then he stood up,
and took the rings, and put them on his hand ; and the king
made a beautiful oration in Greek, in which he thanked the
emperor in many fine expressions for all this honour and
magnificence, but divided the treasure again very equitably
among his men. King Sigurd remained here some time.
The emperor Alexius sent his men to him to ask if he would
rather accept from the emperor six skifpound [one ton] of
gold, or would have the emperor give the games in his honour
which the emperor w^as used to have played at the Padreimr-''.
King Sigurd preferred the games, and the messengers said
the spectacle would not cost the emperor less than the money
offered. Then the emperor prepared for the games, which
were held in the usual w^ay : but this day every thing went on
better for the king than for the queen ; for the queen has
always the half part in the games, and their men, therefore,
ahvays strive against each other in all games. The Greeks
accordingly think that when the king s men win more games
at the Padreimr than the queen's, the king will gain the vic-
tory when he goes into battle. People who have been in
Constantinople tell that the Padreimr is thus constructed : —
A high w^all surrounds a flat plain, which may be compared to
a round bare Thing-place f , with earthen banks all around at
the stone-wall, on which banks the spectators sit; but the
games themselves are in the flat plain. There are many sorts
of old events represented concerning the Asers, Volsungers,
and Giukungers, in these games I ; and all the figures are
cast in copper, or metal, with so great art that they appear
to be living things ; and to the people it appears as if they
were really present in the games. The games themselves
are so artfully and carefully managed, that people appear to
be riding in the air ; and at them also are used shot-fire §,
and all kinds of harp-playing, singing, and music instru-
ments.
* Padreimr, or Padrennir, the Hippodrome where the great spectacles were
given.
i* Place of public assembly.
X It is not likely that the feats of the Asers, Volsungers, and Giukungers,
were represented in the games of the Hippodrome at Constantinople; but
very likely that the Vseringers, and other northmen there, would apply the
names of their own mythology to the representations taken from the Greek
mytholog}''.
§ Fire- works, or the Greek fire, were probably used.
A.D 1111.] KING Sigurd's feast. 61
It is related that king Sigurd one day was to give the em-
peror a feast, and he ordered his men to provide sumptuously
all that was necessary for the entertainment ; and when all
things were provided which are suitable for an entertainment
given by a great personage to persons of high dignity, king
Sigurd ordered his men to go to the street in the city where
fire-wood was sold, as they would require a great quantity to
prepare the feast. They said the king need not be afraid of
wanting fire-wood, for every day many loads were brought into
the town. When it was necessary, however, to have fire-
wood, it was found that it was all sold, which they told the
king. He replied, *' Go and try if you can get walnuts.
They will answer as well as wood for fuel." They went and
got as many as they needed. Now came the emperor, and
his grandees and court, and sat down to table. All was very
splendid; and king Sigurd received the emperor with great
state, and entertained him magnificently. When the queen
and the emperor found that nothing was wanting, she sent
some persons to inquire what they had used for firewood ;
and they came to a house filled with walnuts, and they came
back and told the queen. " Truly," said she, "this is a mag-
nificent king, who spares no expense where his honour is con-
cerned." She had contrived this to try what they would do
when they could get no firewood to dress their feast with.
King Sigurd soon after prepared for his return home. He
gave the emperor all his ships ; and the valuable figure-heads
which were on the king's ships were set up in Peter's church,,
where they have since been to be seen. The emperor gave
the king many horses and guides to conduct him through all
his dominions, and appointed markets for him in his terri-
tories at which he could buy food and drink. Then king
Sigurd left Constantinople ; but many Northmen remained,
and went into the emperor's pay. Then king Sigurd
travelled from Bulgaria, and through Hungary, Pannonia,
Suabia, and Bavaria. In Suabia he met the Koman emperor
Lotharius, who received him in the most friendly way, gave
him guides through his dominions, and had markets esta-
blished for him at which he could purchase all he required.
When king Sigurd came to Sleswick in Denmark, earl Eilif
made a sumptuous feast for him ; and it was then midsummer.
In Heidaby he met the Danish king Nicolaus, who received
him in the most friendly way, made a great entertainment for
63 SiaURD THE CRUSADER. [a.D. 1111.
him, accompanied him north to Jutland, and gave him a ship
provided with every thing needful. From thence the king
returned to Norway, and was joyfully welcomed on his return
to his kingdom. It w^as the common talk among the people,
that none had ever made so honourable a journey from Nor-
way as this of king Sigurd. He w^as twenty years of age,
and had been three years on these travels. His brother Olaf
was then twelve years old.
[William of Tyre, book xi., gives the following account of the arrival of
the Northmen in Syria : —
" The town of Bereyth was taken in the year 1111 [1110] from the incarnation
of our Saviour, and on the 27th of the month of April. That same year people
from the isles of the west, and principally from the western country called
Norway, having heard that the faithful Christians had taken possession of the
holy city of Jerusalem, resolved to repair thither and pay their devotions ;
and they prepared a fleet accordingly. They embarked, and being favoured
by the winds, they traversed the British Sea, passed the strait of Calpe and
Assos, by which the Mediterranean Sea is formed, and having coasted along
its whole length, they landed at Joppa. The supreme chief of this expedition
was a stout, handsome yoimg man, brother of the king of Norway. As soon
as he had disembarked at Joppa, with all his followers, they proceeded to
Jerusalem, the object of their wishes and vows. The king, on being informed
of the arrival of the noble prince of Norway, made all haste to meet him,
received him wi^h much kindness, conversed familiarly with him, and tried
to discover if the prince would be disposed to stop some time in the kingdom
with his naval force, and to consecrate to Christ the fruit of his labour by
giving his aid to extend the dominion of the faithful, and by taking posses-
sion of some other towns. The Norwegians, after holding a council among
themselves, replied that they were come with the express intention of em-
ploying themselves usefully in the service of Christ, and that consequently
they were quite disposed to proceed, without the least delay, by sea, towards
any of the maritime towns which the king was disposed to attack with his
army, and would demand no other pay than the victuals necessary for their
support. The king accepted these terms with the greatest ardour ; and im-
mediately assembling all the forces of his kingdom, and all the knights he
could collect, he began his march to Sidon. The fleet left the port of Acre,
and proceeded also to Sidon, where the land and sea forces arrived simul-
taneously. * * * * rpj^g people of the fleet received presents from the
king, took leave of him, and returned to their country loaded with the
blessings of all Christians. The town of Sidon was taken in the year of
grace 1111 [1110], and on the 19th of December."
This account of Sigurd the Crusader's expedition to the holy land, by a
nearly contemporary historian, native of the country, corroborates Snorro
Sturleson's account of it even in the minute details, but he makes him arrive
at Joppa, instead of Acre, as the Norse account has it.]
63
THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMIN
OF TUDELA.
A.D. 1160—1173.
HEBMW PREFACE.
This book contains the reports of Rabbi Benjamin, the son of
Jonah, of blessed memory-'', of Tudela, in the kingdom of
Navarre. This man travelled through many and distant
countries, as related in the following account, and took down
in writing in each place what he saw or what was told him by
men of integrity, whose names were known in Spain. Rabbi
Benjamin also mentions some of the principal men in the
places he visited; and when he returned, he brought this
report along with him to the country of Castile in the year
933 (a.d. 1173). The above-mentioned Rabbi Benjamin was
a man of wisdom and understanding, and of much information ;
and after strict inquiry his w^ords were found to be true and
correct, for he was a true man.
TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMIN OF BLESSED MEMORY.
Thus says Rabbi Benjamin, son of Jonah, of blessed memory.
I first set out from the city of Saragossa, and proceeded down
the river Ebro toTortosa. Two days' journey brought me to the
ancient city of Tarragona, which contains many cyclopean and
pelasgic remains f, and similar buildings are found nowhere
else in the whole kingdom of Spain. This city stands on the
coast. Two days thence is Barcelona, in which place there is
* The expression "of blessed memory" is generally added by Jews when
mentioning the " honoured dead," (see Proverbs x. *J,) and recurs freq^uently
in the following narrative.
f This city was one of great antiquity ; and at this time the remains of its
ancient walls appear to have been very remarkable. Destroyed at an earlier
period by the Saracens, Tarragona waa rebuilt in the twelfth century.
64 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1160.
a congregation of wise, learned, and princely men, such as
E. Shesheth, K. Shealthiel, and E. Solomon, son of E.
Abraham, son of Chisdai of blessed memory. The city is
handsome, though small, and is situated on the sea-shore. Its
trade attracts merchants from all parts of the world: from
Greece, from Pisa, Genoa, and Sicily, from Alexandria in
Egypt, from Palestine and the adjacent countries.
A day's journey and a half brings you to Gerona, which city
contains a small congregation of Jews. From thence it is
three days to Narbonne, eminent for its university, from which
the study of the law spreads over all countries. The city
. contains many wise and noble men, especially E. Calonymos,
son of the great and noble E. Theodores of blessed memory,
a descendant of the house of David, as proved by his pedigree.
This man holds landed property from the sovereigns of the
country, and nobody can deprive him of it by force. There
is also E. Abraham, the president of the university, E. Makhir,
Pt. Juda, and others of much merit and learning. Alto-
gether the number of Jews amounts to about three hundred.
It is four parasangs thence to the city of Beziers, which con-
tains a congregation of learned men, the principals of which
are E. Solomon Chalaphtha and E. Joseph, son of E. Nathaniel
of blessed memory.
From thence it is two days to Har Gaash, orMontpellier, a
city conveniently situated for trade, being within two parasangs
from the coast. You here meet with Christian and Moham-
medan merchants from all parts : from Algarve (Portugal),
Lombardy, the Eoman empire, Egypt, Palestine, Greece,
France, Spain, and England. People of all tongues meet
here, chiefly in consequence of the traffic of the Genoese and
Pisans. The Jews of this city are among the wisest and most
esteemed of the present generation. E. Eeuben, son of
Theodores, E. Nathan, son of Zacharias, E. Samuel, their
rabbi, E. Shelemiah, and E. Mordecai of blessed memory,
are the principal among them. Others are very rich, and
benevolent towards all who apply to them for assistance. It
is four parasangs hence to Lunel, a city containing also a holy
congregation of Jews, who employ all their time upon the
study of the law. This town is the place of residence of the
celebrated rabbi E. Meshullam and his five sons (E. Joseph,
E. Isaac, E. Jacob, E. Aaron, and E. Aslier), all of whom are
eminent scholars and rich men. The latter is an ascetic,
A.D. IIGO.] LUNEL BEAUCATRE ST. GILLES. 65
who does not attend to any worldly business, but studies day
and night, keeps fasts, and never eats meat. He possesses
an extraordinary degree of knowledge of every thing relating
to Talmudic learning. K. Moses, his brother-in-law, R.
Samuel, the minister, R. Solomon Cohen, and the physician
R. Juda, son of Thibbon, of Spanish origin, are also in-
habitants of Lunel. All foreign students who resort hither
to study the law, are supplied with food and raiment at the
public expense during the whole time of their stay in the uni-
versity. The Jews of this city, amounting to about three
hundred,, are wise, holy, and benevolent men, who support
their poor brethren near and far. The town stands within
two parasangs of the coast. It is two parasangs hence to
Beaucaire, a large town, containing about four hundred Jews,
and a great university under the presidency of the great rabbi,
R. Abraham, son of David of blessed memory, a scholar of the
first eminence in scriptural and talmudic learning. He
attracts students from distant countries, who are lodged in his
own house and are taught by him ; he, moreover, provides
them with all necessaries of life from his own means and
private property, which is very considerable. R. Joseph, son
of R. Menachem, R. Benbenast, R. Benjamin, R. Abraham,
and R. Isaac, son of R. Moses of blessed memory of this city,
are also very great scholars and wise men. It is three para-
sangs further to Nogres or Bourg de St. Gilles. The chief of
the Jewish inhabitants, of which there are about one hundred,
are R. Isaac, son of R. Jacob, R. Abraham, son of R. Juda, R.
Eliasar, R. Isaac, R. Moses, and R. Jacob, son of the late
rabbi R. Levi of blessed memory. This town is a place of
pilgrimage 'i^, visited by the inhabitants of distant countries
and islands. It is situated within three parasangs of the sea,
on the very banks of the large river Rhone, which traverses
the whole of Provence. It is the place of residence of R.
Abba Mari, son of R. Isaac of blessed memory, who holds the
office of steward to count Raymond.
* The church of St. Egidius, or Giles, in this town, was a celebrated place
of pilgrimage in the middle ages. It was the birthplace and first appanage
of the celebrated Raymond, count of St.Giiles and Toulouse, duke of Narbonne,
and marquis of Provence, whose family were so active in the crusades. The
count Raymond here mentioned, in whose household R. Abba Mari held office,
was Raymond V., son of Alphonso, who had the title of count of St. Gilles
during his father's life.
F
66 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a D. 1160.
To Aries, tliree parasangs. The chief of its two hundred
Israelites are R. Moses, R. Tobi, R. Isaiah, R. Solomon the
rabbi, R. Nathan, and R. Abba Mari of blessed memory. It
is three days hence to Marseilles, a city containing many
eminent and wise men. Its three hundred Jews form two
congregations, one of which resides in the lower town on the
shore of the Mediterranean, and the other in the upper part,
near the fortress. The latter supports a great university
and boasts of many learned scholars. R. Simeon, son of R.
Antoli, his brother, R. Jacob, and R. Levaro, are the chief of
the upper synagogue, R. Jacob Perpiano, a rich man, R. Abra-
ham, and his son-in-law, R. Meir, R. Isaac, and another Meir,
preside over the lower congregation. An extensive trade is
carried on in this city, which stands immediately on the coast.
And here people take ship for Genoa, which also stands on the
coast, and is reached in about four days. Two Jews from Ceuta,
R. Samuel, son of Khilam, andhis brother, reside there. The city
is surrounded by a wall ; no king governs over it, but senators
chosen by the citizens out of their own body. Every house
is provided with a tower, and in times of civil commotion war
is carried on from the tops of these towers. The Genoese
are masters of the sea, and build vessels called galleys, by
means of which they carry on war in many places and bring
home much plunder and booty. They are now at war with
the Pisans.
From their city it is a distance of two days' journey to
Pisa, which is a place of very great extent, containing about
ten thousand fortified houses, from which war is carried on in
times of civil commotion. AH the inhabitants are brave; no
king or prince governs over them, the supreme authority being
vested in senators chosen by the people. The principal of the
twent}^ Jews resident at Pisa are R. Moses, R. Chaim, and
K. Joseph. The city has no walls, and stands about four
miles from the sea, the navigation being carried on by means
of vessels which ply upon the Arno, a river that runs through
the city. Hence it is four parasangs to Lucca, a large city,
which contains about forty Jews, the principal of whom are
R. David, R. Samuel, and R. Jacob.
A journey of six days from thence brings you to the large
city of Rome, the metropolis of all Christendom. Two hun-
dred Jews live there, who are very much respected, and pay
tribute to no one. Some of them are officers in the service of
A.D. 11 60.] ROME. Qt
pope Alexander''", who is the chief ecclesiastic and head of
the Christian church. The principal of the many eminent
Jews resident here are R. Daniel and R. Jechiel. The latter
is one of the pope's officers, a handsome, prudent, and wise
man, who frequents the pope's palace, being the steward of his
household and minister of his private property. R. Jechiel is
a descendant of R. Nathan, the author of the book Aruch and
its comments f. There are likewise at Rome, R. Joab, son of
the rabbi R. Solomon, R. Menachem, the president of the uni-
versity, R. Jechiel, who resides in Trastevere, and R. Ben-
jamin, son of R. Shabthai of blessed memory.
The city of Rome is divided into two parts by the river
Tiber, which runs through it. In the first of these divisions
you see the large place of w^orship called St. Peter of Rome,
on the site of the extensive palace of Julius Caesar. The city
contains numerous buildings and structures entirely different
from all other buildings upon the face of the earth. The extent
of ground covered by the ruined and inhabited parts of Rome
amounts to four-and-twenty miles, You there find eighty
halls of the eighty eminent kings who w^ere all called Im-
perator, from king Tarquin to king Pepin, the father of
Charles (Charlemagne), who first conquered Spain and wrested
it from the Mohammedans |. In the outskirts of Rome is the
palace of Titus, who w^as rejected by three hundred. senators
in consequence of his having wasted three years in the con-
quest of Jerusalem, which, according to their will, he ought to
have accomplished in two years. There is likewise the hall
of the palace of king Vespasianus, a very large and strong
building; also the hall of king Galba, containing 360 windows,
equal in number to the days of the year. The circumference
of this palace is nearly three miles. A battle was fought here
in times of yore, and in the palace fell more than a hundred
thousand, whose bones are hung up there even to the present
day. The king caused a representation of the battle to be
drawn, army against army, the men, the horses, and all their
* Alexander III., who held the papacy from 1159 to 1181. The employ-
ment of Jews in the service of the pope is a circumstance worthy of remark.
+ The book Aruch was a celebrated dictionary, completed by rabbi Nathan
at Rome, in a.d. 1101.
J These singular legends relating to the ancient buildings in Eome are
chiefly taken from the writings of Josephus Ben Gorion. Some of them may
be compared with similar tales which are found in Christian writers, and of
which several examples are inserted in William of Malmesbury's History.
F 2
68 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1160.
accoutrements being sculptured in marble, in order to preserve
a memorial of the wars of antiquity. You there find also a
cave under ground containing the king and his queen upon
their thrones, surrounded by about one hundred nobles of
their court, all embalmed by physicians and in good preser-
vation to this day.
Another Vemarkable object is St. Giovanni in porta Latinay
in which place of worship there are two copper pillars con-
structed by king Solomon of blessed memory, whose name,
"Solomon, son of David," is engraved upon each. The Jews
in Rome told Benjamin, that every year, about the time of the
9th of Abt-, these pillars sweat so much that the water runs
dow^n from them. You there see also the cave in which Titus,
the son of Vespasian, hid the vessels of the temple, which he
brought from Jerusalem ; and in another cave on the banks of
the Tiber, you find the sepulchres of those holy men of blessed
memory, the ten martyrs of the kingdom f. Opposite St.
Giovanni de Laterano, there is a statue of Samson, with a
lance of stone in his hand ; also that of Absalom, the son of
David, and of king Constantine, who built Constantinople,
which city is called after his name ; his statue is cast in copper,
the man and horse being gilt. Rome contains many other
remarkable buildings and works, the whole of which nobody
-can enumerate.
Four days from Rome is Capua, a large city, built by king
dapys. The town is elegant, but the water is bad, and the
country unhealthy. Among the three hundred Jews who
reside at Capua are many very wise men of universal fame,
such as R. Konpasso and his brother, R. Samuel, R. Saken,
and the rabbi R. David, who bears the title of Principalo.
From thence to Puzzuolo, or Sorrento, a large city built by
* The time of the destruction of both temples at Jerusalem. The day is
still one of fast and mourning to all Jews, and is celebrated as such by all
synagogues.
t These were ten ancient teachers of the Mishna, who suffered violent
death in the period between Vespasian and Hadrian. A late legend not
only connected these persecutions as one event, but assigned to the victims a
common sepulchre at Rome. The legend contains a conversation of the ten
martyrs with the emperor. Several of the ten were certainly not buried in
Rome ; the sepulchres of three, Akiba, Ishmael, and Juda Ben Thema, were
shown in Palestine in the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. Antipatris is
said by others to be the place of the sepulchre of R. Akiba. A more recent
catalogue notices, as known in Palestine, the sepulchres of R. Juda, son
of Baba, and Simon, son of Gramaliel, two others of the " ten martyrs."
A.D. 1161.] NAPLES SALERNO — AMALFI. 69
Tsintsan Hadareser, who fled in fear of king David of blessed
memory. This city has been inundated in two spots by the sea ;
and even to this day you may see the streets and towers of the
submerged city. A hot spring, which issues forth from under
ground, produces the oil called Petroleum, which is collected
upon the surface of the water and used in medicine. There are
likewise hot baths, proceeding from hot subterranean springs,
which here issue from under ground. Two of these baths are
situated on the sea-shore, and whoever is afflicted with any
disease generally experiences great relief, if not certain cure,
from the use of these waters. During the summer season all
persons afflicted with diseases crowd hither from the whole of
Lombardy -i'^
From this place a man may travel fifteen miles by a cause-
way under the mountains, constructed by king Romulus, the
founder of Rome, who feared David, king of Israel, and Joab,
his general, and constructed buildings both upon and under
the mountains. The city of Naples is very strongly fortified ;
it is situated on the coast, and was originally built by the
Greeks. The principal of the five hundred Jews who live here
are R. Chiskiah, R. Shalom, R. Eliah Cohen, and R. Isaac,
from Mount Hor. One day's journey brings you to Salerno,
the chief medical university of Christendom. The number of
Jews living here amounts to about six hundred, among whom
R. Juda, son of R. Isaac, R. Melchisedek, the grand rabbi,
originally from Siponte, R. Solomon Cohen, R. Elija Haje-
vani (i.e. the Greek), R. Abraham Narboni, and R. Thamon,
deserve particular notice as wise and learned men. The city
is surrounded by a wall towards the land; one part of it how-
ever stands on the shore of the sea. The fort on the summit
of the hill is very strong. Half a day to Amalfi, among the
inhabitants of which city are twenty Jews, the chief being R.
Chananel, the physician, R. Elisha, and the benevolent (or
noble) Abu-al-Gid. The Christian population of this country
is chiefly occupied with trade; they do not till the ground,
but buy every thing for money, because they reside on high
mountains and upon rocky hills ; fmit, however, abounds ; the
land being covered with vineyards, olive-groves, gardens, and
orchards. Nobody ventures to make war upon them.
* This account of Puzzuolo is also chiefly taken from Josephus Gorionides.
Modern researches prove that some Roman villas on the sea-coast are now
covered by the sea ; and this led to the story of the submerged city.
70 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [AD. 1161,
One day to Bavento, a large city between the coast and a
high mountain. The congregation of Jews is about two
hundred, of which the principals are R. Calonymos, R.
Sarach, and R. Abraham of blessed memory. From hence
two days to Melfi in Apulia, the Pul-s^ of scripture, with
about two hundred Jews, of which R. Achimaats, R. Nathan,
and R. Sadok are the principal. One day's journey hence
to Ascoli ; the principal of the forty Jews who live there are
R. Kontilo, R. Semach, his son-in-law, and R. Joseph. Two
days to Trani, on the coast. All the pilgrims who travel
to Jerusalem assemble here, on account of the convenience
of its port. This city contains about two hundred Israelites,
the chief of whom are R. Elijah, R. Nathan the lecturer f,
and R. Jacob. Trani is a large and elegant town. One
day's journey to St. Nicholas di Bari |., formerly a large city,
but it was destroyed by William king of Sicily. It still
lies in ruins, and contains neither Jewish nor Christian
inhabitants. One day's journey and a half to Taranto, the
frontier town of Calabria, the inhabitants of wiiich are
Greeks. It is a large city, and the principal of the three
hundred Jews who live there are R. Mali, R. Nathan, and
R. Israel. One day's journey to Brindisi, on the sea-coast,
containing about ten Jews, who are dyers. Two days to
Otranto, on the coast of the Grecian sea; the principal of
its five hundred Jewish inhabitants are R. Menachem, R.
Khaleb, R. Meier, and R. Mali.
From thence you cross over in two days to the island of
Corfu, containing but one Jew, a dyer, of the name of R.
Joseph. Unto this place reaches the kingdom of Sicily §.
* See Isaiah, Ixvi. 19. This, it need hardly be observed, is one of the
erroneous identifications of Scriptural names which have so frequently arisen
from a false importance given to their similarity of sound.
t This title v/as given to a man conversant with the Hagada, or ancient
manner of expounding the holy scripture. The Hebrew appellation is
" darschan."
X Bari, which was taken and almost destroyedby the Greeks during the reign
of William of Sicily, was called St. Nicholas, in honour of the celebrated church
and priory of that saint, which are its most remarkable ornaments. They
Avere built in 1098, and richly endowed by Roger, duke of Apulia ; and they
escaped the great and general destruction with which the city was visited.
§ This island, though for some time subject to Roger and William, kings
of Sicily, was reconquered by the emperor Manuel in 1149; and the words
of our author are probably intended to express that this v/as the first spot at
which he touched after leaving the kingdom of Sicily.
A.D. 1161.] PATEAS COEINTH THEBES. 71
Two days' voyage by sea brings you to the coast of Arta, tbe
confines of the empire of Manuel, king of Greece. On this
coast lies a village -with about a hundred Jewish inhabitants,
the principal of whom are K. Shelachiah, and R. Hercules.
Two days to Achelous, containing ten Jews, of whom the
principal is R. Shah thai. Half a day to Anatolica on the
gulf. One day by sea to Patras. This is the city of Anti-
patros, king of Greece, one of the four kings who rose after
king Alexander ''\ It contains large and ancient build-
ings, and about fifty Jews reside there, of wdiom R. Isaac,
R. Jacob, and R. Samuel are the principal. Half a day by
sea to Lepanto, on the coast. The principal of the hundred
Jews who reside there are R. Gisri, R. Shalom, and R. Abra-
ham. One day's journey and a half to Crissa. Tw^o hun-
dred Jews live there by themselves on mount Parnassus, and
carry on agriculture upon their own land and property ; of
these, R. Solomon, R. Chaim, and R. Jedaiah are the prin-
cipal. Three days to the city of Corinth, which contains
about three hundred Jews, of whom the chief are R. Leon,
R. Jacob, and R. Ezekias.
Three days to the large city of Thebes, containing about
two thousand Jewish inhabitants. These are the most emi-
nent manufacturers of silk and purple cloth in all Greece f.
Among them are many eminent Talmudic scholars and men
as famous as any of the present generation. The principal
of them are, the great rabbi R. Aaron Koti, his brother, R.
Moses, R. Chija, R. Elijah Tareteno, and R. Joktan. No
scholars like them are to be found in the whole Grecian
■empire, except at Constantinople. A journey of three days
brings you to Negropont, a large city on the coast, to which
merchants resort from all parts. Of the two hundred Jews
* This erroneous account of the foundation of Patras is taken from Josephus
Oorionides.
'Y Thebes contained, at this time, the greatest numher of Jews of any city
in Greece, some of whom are stated to have been eminent manufacturers^, prin-
'cipally of silk and purple cloths. Gfibbon states that artists employed upon
these trades enjoyed exemption from personal taxes, " These arts, which
were exercised at Corinth, Thebes, and Argos, afforded food and occupation
to a numerous people : the men, women, and children were distributed
according to their age and strength ; and if many of these were domestic
slaves, their masters, who directed the work and enjoyed the profits, were of
a free and honourable condition." At present the whole population of Thebes
does not amount to above 3500 individuals.
72 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1161.
\\ho reside there, the principal are R. Elijah Psalteri, R. Ema-
nuel, and R. Khaleb. From thence to Jabustrisa -!' is one
day's journey. This city stands on the coast, and contains
about one hundred Jews, the principal of whom are R.
Joseph, R. Samuel, and R. Nethaniah. Rabenicaf is dis-
tant one day's journey, and contains about one hundred Jews,
of whom R. Joseph, R. Eleasar, and R. Isaac are the prin-
cipal. Sinon Potamo, or Zeitun, is one day's journey fur-
ther ; R. Solomon and R. Jacob are the principal of its fifty
Jewish inhabitants.
Here we reach the confines of Wallachia, the inhabitants
of which country are called Vlachi. They are as nimble
as deer, and descend from their mountains into the plains of
Greece, committing robberies and making booty. Nobody
ventures to make war upon them, nor can any king bring
them to submission, and they do not profess the Christian
faith. Their names are of Jewish origin, and some even say
that they have been Jews, which nation they call brethren.
Whenever they meet an Israelite, they rob, but never kill
him, as they do the Greeks. They profess no religious
creed.
From thence it is two days to Gardiki J, a ruined place,
containing but few Jewish or Grecian inhabitants. Two days
further, on the coast, stands the large commercial city of Ar
miro§, which is frequented by the Venetians, the Pisans, the
Genoese, and many other merchants. It is a large city, and
contains about four hundred Jewish inhabitants ; of whom
the chief are R. Shiloh, R. Joseph the elder, and R. Solo-
mon, the president. One day to Bissina||; the principal of
* No place of this name is now known, Mr. A slier conjectures, from the
Sclavonic sound of the word, that it was a town of the Wallachians, and that
it has been destroyed in the perpetual wars of which this part of Greece was
the scene.
f Rabenica is mentioned by several medieval writers, though its exact
situation is not now known. Henri de Valencicnne, Chronique, edited by
Buchon, p. 259, says '' Ensi comme jou devant vous dys, fut li parlemens ou val
de Ravenique."
% Gardiki, or Cardiki, a small town on the coast of the gulf of Yolo, and
the seat of a bishop. The time at which it was ruined, or the occasion upon
which its destruction took place, cannot be ascertained.
§ Armyro, also on the coast of the gulf of Volo. By the writers of the
middle ages it was called Amire, Amiro, and Almyro. Poucqueville (iii. 72)
mentions it as the principal town of a district which bears its name.
Jl This place is not now known, but it is mentioned by medieval writers
A.D. 1161.] SALONIKI TO ABYDOS. 73
the hundred Jews who reside here are the rabbi R. Shab-
tha, R. Solomon, and R. Jacob. The town of Salunki * is
distant two days by sea ; it was built by king Seleucus, one
of the four Greek nobles who rose after Alexander, is a very
large city, and contains about five hundred Jewish inha-
bitants. The rabbi R. Samuel and his sons are eminent
scholars, and he is appointed provost of the resident Jews by
the king's command. His son-in-law R. Shabthai, R. Elijah,
and R. Michael, also reside there. The Jews are much
oppressed in this place, and live by the exercise of handi-
craft. Mitrizzi f, distant two days' journey, contains about
twenty Jews. R. Isaiah, R. Makhir, and R. Eliab are the
principal of them. Drama]:, distance from hence two days'
journey, contains about one hundred and forty Jews, of whom
the chief are R. Michael and R. Joseph. From thence one
day's journey to Christopoli §, which contains about twenty
Jewish inhabitants. Three days from thence by sea stands
Abydos, on the coast.
It is hence five days' journey through the mountains to the
under the name of Vissena, Vessena, and Bezena. As our author embarked
at or near this station, it cannot have been Velestino, which we meet with by
following his route on a map of Greece, because, although in the vicinity of
ArmjTo, and on the road to Saloniki, it is an inland town.
* The ancient Thessalonica, the modern Saloniki, contained, at our author's
time, more Jewish inhabitants than any town in Grreece, Thebes alone ex-
cepted. It is stated by good authorities to contain at present 20,000
Israelites, a large proportion of the whole population, amounting altogether to
but 70,000 souls. Some popular tradition probably induced our author to
ascribe the origin of the city to Seleucus. The favourable situation of
Saloniki, which has made it one of the most commercial towns of the
Turkish empire, was probably tae cause of its considerable Jewish population.
f This place, which has vanished from the modern maps of Grreece, was called
correctly Dimitritzi, and was situated near Amphipolis, on the Cercinian Sea.
t. Villehardouin mentions this place as belonging to the king of Thessa-
lonica, and calls it "Dramine el val de Phelippe." Another MS. reads
Draimes, which is more in conformity with the appellation given to it by
Nicephorus Gregoras, who, like our author, frequently calls it Drama. It
stands in a valley, near the site of the ancient city of Philippi, the ruins of
which are still to be seen.
§ The original word is ♦SlHU^^Jp ; but there can hardly be any doubt that
our author wrote it so only because he did not like to mention the name
of Christ. We observe this in several other instances in the course of this
work. Christopoli was on the direct road from Thessalonica to Constantinople.
It was situated on the frontiers of Macedonia and Thracia, on the European
shore of the Propontis, opposite the island of Thaso ; and here travellers from
Macedonia to Constantinople generally embarked.
74 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1161.
large city of Constantinople, the metropolis of the whole
Grecian empire, and the residence of the emperor, king
Manuel *. Twelve princely officers govern the whole empire
by his command, each of them inhabiting a palace at Con-
stantinople, and possessing fortresses and cities of his o^vn.
The first of these nobles bears the title of Prsepositus mag-
nus ; the second is called Megas Domesticus, the third Domi-
nus, the fourth Megas Ducas, the fifth OEconomus magnus, and
the names of the others are similar to these f.
The circumference of the city of Constantinople is eighteen
miles ; one half of the city being bounded by the continent,
the other by the sea, two arms of which meet here ; the one
a branch or outlet of the Russian, the other of the Spanish
sea. Great stir and bustle prevails at Constantinople in
consequence of the conflux of many merchants, who resort
thither, both by land and by sea, from all parts of the world
for purposes of trade, including merchants, from Babylon and
from Mesopotamia, from Media and Persia, from Egypt and
Palestine, as well as from Eussia, Hungary, Patzinalda,
Budia, Lombardy, and Spain. In this respect the city is
equalled only by Bagdad, the metropolis of the Mohammedans.
At Constantinople is the place of worship called St. Sophia,
and the metropoHtan seat of the pope of the Greeks, who
are at variance with the pope of Rome. It contains as
many altars as there are days of the year, and possesses
innumerable riches, which are augmented every year by the
contributions of the two islands and of the adjacent towns
and villages. All the other places of worship in the whole
world do not equal St. Sophia in riches. It is ornamented
with pillars of gold and silver, and with innumerable lamps
of the same precious materials. The Hippodrome is a public
place near the wall of the palace, set aside for the king's
sports. Every year the birthday of Jesus the Nazarene is
celebrated there with public rejoicings. On these occasions
you may see there representations of all the nations who
* Manuel Comnenus, emperor from 1143 to 1180.
f The best account of the imperial officers of state will be found in Gibbon,
''Decline and Fall," chap. liii. The Praepositus magnus was one of the prin-
cipal officers, governor of the city and of the forces stationed in it ; the Megas
Domesticus was the commander in chief of the army ; the Dominus, court
marshal, lord steward of the household ; Megas Ducas, the commander of the
naval forces, or lord high admiral of the empire; (Economos magnus, a
clerical officer of high rank.
A.D. 1161.] DESCEIPTTON OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 75
inhabit the different parts of the world, with surprising feats
of jugglery. Lions, bears, leopards, and wild asses, as well
as birds, which have been trained to fight each other, are
also exhibited. All this sport, the equal of which is nowhere
to be met with, is carried on in the presence of the king and
the queen '^-.
King Manuel has built a large palace for his residence on
the sea-shore, near the palace built by his predecessors ; and
to this edifice is given the name of Blachernes. The pillars
and walls are covered with pure gold, and all the wars of
the ancients, as well as his own wars, are represented in pic-
tures. The throne in this palace is of gold, and ornamented
with precious stones ; a golden crown hangs over it, sus-
pended on a chain of the same material, the length of which
exactly admits the emperor to sit under it. This crown is
ornamented with precious stones of inestimable value. Such
is the lustre of these diamonds, that, even without any other
light, they illumine the room in which they are kept. Other
objects of curiosity are met with here which it would be
impossible to describe adequately.
The tribute, which is brought to Constantinople every
year from all parts of Greece, consisting of silks, and purple
cloths, and gold, fills many towers. These riches and build-
ings are equalled nowhere in the world. They say that the
tribute of the city alone amounts every day to twenty thou-
sand florins, arising from rents of hostelries and bazaars, and
from the duties paid by merchants who arrive by sea and by
land. The Greeks who inhabit the country are extremely
rich, and possess great wealth in gold and precious stones.
They dress in garments of silk, ornamented with gold and
other valuable materials. They ride upon horses, and in
their appearance they are like princes. The country is rich,
producing all sorts of delicacies, as well as abundance of
* The Hippodrome is now known by the Turkish paraphrased name of
the At-Meidan, i. e. the horse-market. It was the site chosen for the display
of the games by which the emperor Manuel entertained the sultan Azeddin
Kilidscharslan, on his visit to Constantinople in 1159 ; and Mr. Asher ob-
serves that Benjamin was probably an eyewitness of the public rejoicings
and games which took place in honour of the celebration of the marriage
of the emperor Manuel with Maria, daughter of the prince of Antiochia, on
"the birth-day of Jesus/' a.d. 1161, which he seems to describe here. Com-
pare the account of the games at Constantinople exhibited to the Northmen,
pp. 60, 61.
76 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1162.
bread, meat, and wine. They are well skilled in the Greek
sciences, and live comfortably, " every man under his vine
and his fig tree."-'^ The Greeks hire soldiers of all nations,
whom they call barbarians, for the purpose of carrying on
their wars with the sultan of the Thogarmim, who are called
Turks. They have no martial spirit themselves, and, like
women, are unfit for w^arlike enterprises.
No Jews dwell in the city with them; they are obliged to
reside beyond the one arm of the sea, where they are shut
in by the channel of Sophia on one side, and they can reach
the city by water only, when they want to visit it for pur-
poses of trade. The number of Jews at Constantinople
amounts to two thousand Rabbanites and five hundred Cara-
ites f, who live on one spot, but divided by a wall. The
principal of the Rabbanites, who are learned in the law, are
the rabbi R. Abtalion, R. Obadiah, R. Aaron Khuspo, R.
Joseph Sargeno, and R. Eliakim the elder. Many of them
are manufacturers of silk cloth, many others are merchants,
some being extremely rich ; but no Jew is allowed to ride
upon a horse, except R. Solomon Hamitsri, who is the king's
physician, and by whose influence the Jews enjoy many ad-
vantages even in their state of oppression, which is very
severely felt by them ; and the hatred against them is in-
creased by the practice of the tanners, who pour out their
filthy water in the streets and even before the very doors of
the Jews, who, being thus defiled, become objects of contempt
to the Greeks. Their yoke is severely felt by the Jews,
both good and bad ; for they are exposed to be beaten in the
streets, and must submit to all sorts of bad treatment. Still
the Jews are rich, good, benevolent, and religious men, who
bear the misfortunes of their exile with humility. The
quarter inhabited by the Jews is called Pera.
Two days from Constantinople stands Rodosto, containing a
congregation of about four hundred Jews, the principal of
whom are R. Moses, R. Abijah, and R. Jacob. From hence
it is two days to Gallipoli. Of the two hundred Jews of this
city the principal are R. Elijah Kapid, R. Shabthai the little,
and R. Isaac Megas; this latter term in the Greek language
* Micah, iv. 4.
f The former respect and conform with the authority of the rabbinic ex-
planations, which are rejected by the latter.
A.D. 1163.] THE GREEK ISTANDS. 77
means tall. To (Kales, or) Kilia-, two days. The principal
of the fifty Jews who inhabit this place are E. Juda, R.
Jacob, and R. Shemaiah. It is hence two days to Mitilene,
one of the islands of the sea. Ten places in this island con-
tain Jewish congregations. Three days from thence is situated
the island of Ohio, containing about four hundred Jews, the
principal of whom are R. Elijah, R. Theman, and R. Shabthai.
The trees which yield mastic are found here f. Two days
bring us to the island of Samos, which contains about three
hundred Jews, the chief of whom are R. Shemaria, R. Obadiah,
and R. Joel. These islands contain many congregations of
Jews. It is three days hence by sea to Rhodes. The prin-
cipal of the four hundred Jews who reside here are R. Aba,
R. Chananel, and R. Elijah. Hence it is four days to Cyprus.
Besides the rabbanitic Jews in this island, there is a com-
munity of heretic Jews called Kaphrosein, or Cyprians. They
are epicureans, and the orthodox Jews excommunicate them.
These sectarians profane the evening of the Sabbath and keep
holy that of the Sunday. We next come in two days to
Corycus, the frontier of Aram, which is called Armenia.
Here are the confines of the empire of Toros, king of the
mountains J, sovereign of Armenia, whose rule extends to the
city of Dhuchia and the country of the Togarmim, or Turks.
Two days further is Malmistras §, which is Thersoos, situated
* This is the Coela of Ptolemy, and the Celiis of Pliny and Mela, a sea-
port-town on the eastern coast of the peninsula of Grallipoli, still bearing the
Turkish name of Kilia.
f The island of Ohio is still celebrated for its mastic ; and the population
of twenty villages are employed exclusively in cultivating the tree and
gathering its produce. These villages are situated in the mountainous parts ;
and the Christian cultivators of the mastic not only paid no tithe nor tribute,
but enjoyed certain privileges.
J This prince first resided with the emperor Johannes Porphyrogenitus,
with whom he was a great favourite ; but on his death, and the succession
of Manuel Comnenus to the throne, Thoros left Constantinople, disguised as
a merchant, and proceeded by water to Antioch, from whence he went to
Cilicia, and with the assistance of the priests and nobles found himself at the
head of a formidable army, and soon established himself on the throne of his
ancestors. When these news reached Constantinople, Manuel became highly
incensed ; and, raising a numerous force, he sent Andronicus Csesar into Cilicia
with the command to extirpate all Armenians ; but the imperial general was
defeated, and Thoros was subsequently reconciled with the emperor. He
died in 1167.
§ Malmistras is the ancient Mopsuestia, on the Pyramus, at present
Messis on the Jeihan, Under the former name it appears in William of Tyre
and his contemporaries.
78 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1163.
on the coast. Thus far reaches the empire of the Javanites,
who are called Greeks.
The large city of Antioch is distant two days hence. It
stands on the hanks of the Maklouh, which river flows down
from Mount Lehanon, from the country of Hamah. The city
was founded by king Antiochus, and is overlooked by a very
high mountain. A wall surrounds this height, on the summit
of which is situated a well. The inspector of the well distri-
butes the water by subterranean aqueducts, and thus provides
the houses of the principal inhabitants of the city. The other
side of the city is surrounded by the river. This place is very
strongly fortified, and in the possession of prince Boemond
Poitevin, surnamed le Baube-^. It contains about ten Jews,
who are glass manufacturers, and the principal of whom are
B. Mordecai, R. Chaiim, and R. Ishmael.
Two days bring us from thence to Lega, which is Latachia,
and contains about two hundred Jews, the principal of whom
are R. Chiia and R. Joseph. Hence it is two days to Jebilee,
the Baal Gad of Scripture, under Mount Lebanon.
In this vicinity reside the people called Assassins, who do
not believe in the tenets of Mohammedanism, but in those of
one whom they consider like unto the prophet Kharmathf.
They fulfil whatever he commands them, whether it be a
matter of life or death. He goes by the name of Sheikh-al-
Hashishin, or their old man, by whose commands all the acts
of these mountaineers are regulated. His residence is in the
city of Kadmus |, the Kedemoth of Scripture, in the land of
Sichon. The Assassins are faithful to one another by the
command of their old man, and make themselves the dread of
every one, because their devotion leads them gladly to risk
their lives, and to kill even kings when commanded. The
extent of their country is eight days' journey. They are at
war with the Christians, called Franks, and with the count of
"^ Boemond III., prince of Antioch^ surnamed le Baube (or the Stammerer),
succeeded his. mother in the principality of Antioch in 1163, and died in
1200.
f Kharmath was a famous impostor, founder of a sect called Carmathians,
very similar to that of the Assassins. One of the tenets of this sect was,
that the soul of the founder transmigrates into the body of his successor, and
tha,t the person who held the office of chief among them was the personification
of the original founder of the sect.
X Kadmus is enumerated by Burckhardt in a list of old castles, on the
mountains of Szaffyta, in the territory of the Anzeiry.
A.D. 1163.] TEIPOLI JEBAIL — BEYRUT— SIDON. 79
Tripoli, which is Tarablous el Sham. Some time ago Tripoli
was visited by an earthquake, which destroyed many Jews and
Gentiles, numbers of the inhabitants being killed by the fall-
ing houses and walls, under the ruins of which they were
buried. More than twenty thousand persons were killed in
Palestine by this earthquake.
One day's journey to the other Jebail, which was the Gebal
of the children of Amnion - ; it contains about one hundred
and fifty Jews, and is governed by seven G enoese, the supreme
command being vested in one of them named Julianus Em-
briaco f . You there find the ancient place of worship of the
children of Ammon. The idol of this people is seated on a
cathedral or throne, constructed of stone and richly gilt ; two
female figures occupy the seats on his side, one being on the
right, the other on the left, and before it stands an altar, upon
which the children of Ammon anciently offered sacrifices and
burned incense. The city contains about two hundred Jews,
the principal of whom are R. Meir, R. Jacob, and R. Szimchah.
It stands on the coast of the sea of the Holy Land. Two days
hence is Beyrut, which is Beeroth];. The principal of its
fifty Jewish inhabitants are R. Solomon, R. Obadiah, and R.
Joseph. It is hence one day's journey to Saida, which is
Sidon of Scripture, a large city, with about twenty Jewish
inhabitants.
"Within twenty miles of this place reside a people who are
at war with the inhabitants of Sidon, and who are called
* Joskua^ xiii. 5. 1 Kings, v. 32.
=f This passage was entirely misunderstood by the earlier translators.
The family of the Embriaci was one of the most ancient of the patricians
of Grenoa ; and one of its members, Gruillelmus Embriacus, was named com-
mander of the fleet which was sent to aid the Christian princes of Syria, and
which, in 1109, took Byblus, of which he became the feudal lord. The
jealousy of the other patrician families was subsequently roused, but the
family of the Embriaci succeeded in retaining their feudal tenure. The supreme
government of the city, however, at this time, appears to have been vested in
a committee of seven persons, six of whom were delegated by the republic,
the place of president being always filled by one of the Embriaci. William
of Tyre (xi. 9) relates the conquest of Byblus by the Grenoese, and informs
us that the Christian name of the Embriacus who governed when he wrote
(about 1180) was Hugo, ^^a grandson of the Hugo who conquered it;" but
all other historians call the conqueror Guillelmus, and Mr. Asher thinks that
we ought to read, in Benjamin's text, 1?D*»Si;i, which stands for William^
instead of Julianus.
i Joshua, xviii. 25.
80 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1163.
Druses. They are called heathens and unhelievers, because
they confess no religion. Their dwellings are on the summits
of the mountains and in the ridges of the rocks, and they are
subject to no king or prince. Mount Hermon, a distance of
three days' journey, is the boundary of their territory. This
people live incestuously ; a father cohabits with his own
daughter, and once every year all men and women assemble to
celebrate a festival, upon which occasion, after eating and
drinking, they hold promiscuous intercourse. They say that the
soul of a virtuous man is transferred to the body of a new-born
child ; whereas that of the wicked transmigrates into a dog or
some other animal. This their way is their folly. Jews have
no permanent residence among them, although some trades-
men and a few dyers travel through the country occasionally,
to carry on their trades or sell goods, and return home when
their business is done. The Druses are friendly towards the
Jews; they are so nimble in climbing hills and mountains,
that nobody can successfully carry on w^ar against them.
One day s journey to New Sur, a very beautiful city, the
port of which is in the town itself, and is gniarded by two
towers, within which the vessels ride at anchor. The officers
of the customs draw an iron chain from tower to tower every
night, thus effectually preventing any thieves or robbers from
escape by boats or by other means. There is no port in the
world equal to this. About four hundred Jews reside here,
the principal of whom are the judge R. Ephraim Mitsri, R.
Meier of Carcasson, and R. Abraham, the elder of the com-
munity. The Jews of Sur are ship-owners and manufacturers
of the celebrated Tyrian glass -i' ; the purple dye is also found
in this vicinity. If you mount the walls of New Sur, you
may see the remains of " Tyre the crowning,"! which was
inundated by the sea; it is about the distance of a stone s throw
from the new town, and whoever embarks may observe the
towers, the markets, the streets, and the halls at the bottom
of the sea. The city of New Sur is very commercial, and one
to which traders resort from all parts.
It is one day hence to Acre, the Acco of Scripture, on the
confines of the tribe of Asher. It is the frontier town of
Palestine ; and, in consequence of its situation on the shore of
* It is well known from other sources that Tyre was celebrated in the
middle a^es for the manufacture of glass.
•j- Isaiah, xxiii. 8.
A. D. 11 63.] FKOM ACRE TO NABLOUS. 81
the Mediterranean and of its large port, it is the principal
place of disembarkation of all pilgrims who visit Jerusalem by
sea. A river called Kishon^' runs near the city. There are
here about two hundred Jewish inhabitants, of whom K.
Zadok, R. Jepheth, and E. Jona are the principal. Three
parasangs further is Kaiffa, which is Gath Hachepherf. One
side of this city is situated on the coast, on the other it is
overlooked by Mount Carmel. Under the mountain are many
Jewish sepulchres, and near the summit is the cavern of
Elija, upon whom be peace. Two Christians have built a
place of worship near this site, which they call St. Elias. On
the summit of the hill you may still trace the site of the altar
which was rebuilt by Elija of blessed memory, in the time of
king Ahabj, and the circumference of which is about four
yards. The river Mukattua runs down the mountain and
along its base. It is four parasangs hence to Khephar Than-
chum, which is Capernaum, identical with Meon, the place of
abode of Nabal the Carmelite. Six parasangs brings us to
Cesarea, the Gath of the Philistines of Scripture, inhabited by
about ten Jews and two hundred Cutheans. The latter are
Samaritan Jews, commonly called Samaritans. This city is
very elegant and beautiful, situated on the sea-shore, and was
built by king Herod, who called it Cesarea in honour of the
emperor, or Coesar. To Kakun, the Keilah of Scripture §,
half a day's journey; in this place are no Jews. To St.
George, the ancient Luz||, half a day's journey. One Jew
only, a dyer, lives here. To Sebaste, one day's journey. This
is the ancient Shomron, where you may still trace the site of
the palace of Ahab, king of Israel. It was formerly a very
strong city, and is situated on a mount, in a fine country,
richly watered, and surrounded with gardens, orchards, vine-
yards, and olive-groves. No Jews live here.
It is two parasangs further to Nablous, the ancient Sichera,
on Mount Ephraim. This place contains no Jewish inha-
bitants, and is situated in the valley between Mount Gerizim
and Mount Ebal. It is the abode of about one hundred
Cutheans, who observe the Mosaic law only, and are called
Samaritans. They have priests, descendants of Aaron the
* The modern Nahr-el-Mukattua. See Judges, v. 21.
+ Joshua^ xix. 13. Modern writers identify KaifFa with the ancient
Ephah, and not with Gfath.
i 1 Kings, xviii. 30. § Joshua, xv. 44. H Judges, i. 26.
a
82 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1163.
priest of blessed memory, whom they call Aaronim. These
do not intermarry with any other but priestly families ; but
they are priests only of their own law, who offer sacrifices and
burnt-offerings in their synagogue on Mount Gerizim. They
do this in accordance with the words of Scripture ^^, "Thou
shalt put the blessing on Mount Gerizim," and they pretend
that this is the holy temple f. On passover and holidays they
offer burnt-offerings on the altar which they have erected on
Mount Gerizim, from the stones put up by the children of
Israel after they had crossed the Jordan. They pretend to be
of the tribe of Ephraim, and are in possession of the tomb of
Joseph the righteous, the son of our father Jacob, upon whom
be peace, as is proved by the follovving passage of Scripture |,
" The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought
up with them from Egypt, they buried in Sichem." The
Samaritans do not possess the three letters He, Cheth, and
Ain ; the He of the name of our father Abraham, and they
have no glory; the Cheth of the name of our father Isaac,
in consequence of which they are devoid of piety ; the Ain of
the name of Jacob, for they want humiUty. Instead of these
letters, they always put an Aleph, by which you may know
that they are not of Jewish origin, because, in their knowledge
of the law of Moses, they are deficient in three letters §. This
sect carefully avoid being defiled by touching corpses, bones,
those killed by accident, or graves ; and they change their
daily garments whenever they visit their synagogue, upon
wliich occasion they wash their body and put on other clothes.
These are their daily habits.
Mount Gerizim is rich in wells and orchards, whereas
Mount Ebal is dry like stone and rock. The city of Nablous
lies in the valley between these two hills. Eour parasangs
from thence is situated Mount Gilboa, which Christians call
Monto Jelbon. The country in this part is very barren. Five
parasangs further is the valley of Ajalon|l, called by the
Christians Yal de Luna. One parasang to Gran David, for
* Deut. xi. 29.
f To which place, according to the tenets of the Talmudic Jews, the
offerings are confined, and since the destruction of which they have been
discontinued.
X Joshua, xxiv. 32.
§ Modern critics and travellers appear to confirm this statement relating
to the peculiar pronunciation of the three letters by the Samaritans.
11 At present Yalo.
A.D. 1163.] JERUSALEM. ' 83
merly the large city of Gibeon. It contains no Jewish
inhabitants.
From thence it is three parasangs to Jerusalem, a small city
strongly fortified with three walls. It contains a numerous popu-
lation, composed of Jacobites, Armenians, Greeks, Georgians,
Franks, and indeed of people of all tongues. The dyeing-house
is rented by the year, and the exclusive privilege of dyeing is
purchased from the king by the Jews of Jerusalem, two
hundred of whom dwell in one corner of the city, under the
tower of David. About ten yards of the base of this building
are very ancient, having been constructed by our ancestors ;
the remaining part was added by the Mohammedans. The city
contains no building stronger than the tower of David. There
are at Jerusalem two hospitals, which support four hundred
knights, and afford shelter to the sick; these are provided
wdth everything they may want, both during life and in death;
the second is called the hospital of Solomon, being the palace
originally built by king Solomon. This hospital also harbours
and furnishes four hundred knights -i'^, who are ever ready to
wage war, over and above those knights who arrive from the
country of the Franks and other parts of Christendom. These
generally have taken a vow upon themselves to stay a year or
two, and they remain until the period of their vow is expired.
The large place of worship, called Sepulchre, and containing
the sepulchre of that man f , is visited by all pilgrims.
Jerusalem has four gates, called the gates of Abraham,
David, Sion, and Jehoshaphat. The latter stands opposite the
place of the holy temple, which is occupied at present by a
building called Templo Domino. Omar Ben Al-Khataab
erected a large and handsome cupola over it, and nobody is
allowed to introduce any image or painting into this place, it
being set aside for prayers only. In front of it you see the
western wall, one of the walls which formed the Holy of Holies
of the ancient temple ; it is called the Gate of Mercy, and all
Jews resort thither to say their prayers near the wall of the
court-yard. At Jerusalem you also see the stables erected by
Solomon I, and which formed part of his house. Immense
stones have been employed in this fabric, the like of which are
nowhere else to be met with. You further see to this day
* The knights templars. t Jesus is thus called in the Talmud.
t 1 Kings, iv. 26.
G 2
84 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1163
vestiges of the canal near which the sacrifices were slaughtered
in ancient times; and all Jews inscribe their name upon an
adjacent wall. If you leave the city by the gate of Jehosha-
phat, you may see the pillar erected on Absalom's place '-5^,
and the sepulchre of king Uzziah f, and the great spring of
Shiloah, which runs into the brook Kedron. Over this spring
is a large building erected in the times of our forefathers.
Very little water is found at Jerusalem; the inhabitants
generally drink rain water, w^hich they collect in their houses.
From the Valley of Jehoshaphat the traveller immediately
ascends the Mount of Olives, as this valley only intervenes
between the city and the mount From hence the Dead Sea
is distinctly visible. Two parasangs from the sea stands the salt
pillar into which Lot's wife was metamorphosed ; and although
the sheep continually lick it, the pillar grows again, and
retains its original state. You also have a prospect over the
whole valley of the Dead Sea, and of the brook of Shittim, even
as far as Mount Nebo. Mount Sion is also near Jerusalem,
upon the acclivity of which stands no building except a place of
worship of the Nazarenes (Christians). The traveller further
sees there three Jewish cemeteries, where formerly the dead
were buried ; some of the sepulchres had stones with inscrip-
tions upon them, but the Christians destroy these monuments^
and use the stones in building their houses.
Jerusalem is surrounded by high mountains. On Mount
Sion are the sepulchres of the house of David, and those of
the kings who reigned after him. In consequence of the
following circumstance, however, this place is at present hardly
to he recognised. Fifteen years ago, one of the Avails of the
place of worship on Mount Sion fell down, and the patriarch
commanded the priest to repair it. He ordered stones to be
taken from the original wall of Sion for that purpose, and
twenty w^orkmen were hired at stated wages, who broke stones
from the very foundation of the walls of Sion. Two of these
labourers, who were intimate friends, upon a certain day
treated one another, and repaired to their work after their
friendly meal. The overseer accused them of dilatoriness, but
they answered that they would still perform their day's work,
and would employ thereupon the time while their fellow
labourers were at meals. They then continued to break out
* 2 Sara, xviii. 18. +2 Kings, xv. 1—7.
A.D. 1163.] THE SEPULCHRE OF KING DAVID. 85
stones, until, happening to meet with one which formed the
mouth of a cavern, they agreed to enter it in search of
treasure, and they proceeded until they reached a large
hall, supported by pillars of marble, encrusted with gold and
silver, and before which stood a table, with a golden sceptre
and crown. This was the sepulchre of David, king of Israel,
to the left of which they saw that of Solomon in a similar
state, and so on the sepulchres of all the kings of Juda, who were
buried there. They further saw chests locked up, the con-
tents of which nobody knew, and were on the point of entering
the hall, when a blast of wind like a storm issued forth from
the mouth of the cavern so strong that it threw them down
almost lifeless on the ground. There they lay until evening,
when another wind rushed forth, from which they heard a
voice like that of a man calling alcud, '' Get up, and go forth
from this place." The men rushed out full of fear, and pro-
ceeded to the patriarch to report what had happened to them.
This ecclesiastic summoned into his presence R. Abraham el
Constantini, a pious ascetic, one of the mourners of the down-
fall of JerLisalem'i'% and caused the two labourers to repeat what
they had previously reported. R. Abraham thereupon informed
the patriarch that they had discovered the sepulchres of the
house of David and of the kings of Juda. The following
morning the labourers were sent for again, but they were
found stretched on their beds and still full of fear; they
declared that they would not attempt to go again to the cave,
as it was not Ood s will to discover it to any one. The patri-
arch ordered the place to be walled up, so as to hide it
effectually from every one unto the present day. The above-
mentioned R. Abraham told me all this.
Two parasangs from Jerusalem is Bethlehem of Judea,
called Beth-lehem ; and within half a mile of it, where several
* After the slaughter of the Jews of Jenisalein by the crusaders, the few
that were saved from destruction were dispersed in all directions. Those
persons who mourned over these unhappy circumstances were called
** mourners of Jerusalem," and are mentioned under that title more than once
hy Benjamin. We find these mourners even among the Caraites about 1147.
We read in several ancient Jewish writers of the danger incurred by the
Jews who visited Jerusalem while it remained in th^ power of the Christians.
Pethachia found only one Jew at Jerusalem, whereas Benjamin .speaks of
200. A numerous congregation was again to be met with there about 1190 ;
but about 1216 great discord prevailed among them in consequence of the
pretensions of the different congregations.
86 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1163.
roads meet '^, stands the monument which points out the grave
of Rachel. This monument is constructed of eleven stones,
equal to the number of the children of Jacob. It is covered
by a cupola, which rests upon four pillars ; and every Jew who
passes there inscribes his name on the stones of the monu-
ment. Twelve Jews, dyers by profession f, live at Bethlehem.
The country abounds with rivulets, wells, and springs of water.
Six parasangs further is Hebron. The ancient city of that
name was situated on the hill, and lies in ruins at present ;
whereas the modern town stands in the valley, even in the
field of Machpelahj. Here is the large 23lace of v/orship
called St. Abraham, which during the time of the Mohamme-
dans was a synagogue. The Gentiles have erected six se-
pulchres in this place, which they pretend to be those of
Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebecca, and of Jacob and
Leah ; the pilgrims are told that they are the sepulchres of
the fathers, and money is extorted from them. But if any
Jew come, who gives an additional fee to the keeper of the
cave, an iron door is opened, which dates from the times of
our forefathers who rest in peace, and with a burning candle
in his hands, the visitor descends into a first cave, which is
empty, traverses a second in the same state, and at last
reaches a third, wdiich contains six sepulchres, those of Abra-
ham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah, one
opposite the other. All these sepulchres bear inscriptions,
the letters being engraved : thus, upon that of Abraham, we
read, " This is the sepulchre of our father Abraham, upon
whom be peace ;" and so on that of Isaac and upon all the
other sepulchres. A lamp burns in the cave and upon the
sepulchres continually, both night and day ; and you there see
tubs filled with the bones of Israelites, for unto this day it is
a custom of the house of Israel to bring thither the bones of
their relicts and of their forefathers, and to lea.ve them there.
On the confines of the field of Machpelah stands the house
of our father Abraham §, who rests in peace ; before which
* Gen. xxxv. 19, 20.
f It may be observed that most of the richer stuffs, the sidatons, &c.,
used in the west of Europe during the middle ages, came from the east,
which accounts for the number of dyers mentioned by the traveller.
t Gen. xxiii. 19.
§ The "House of Abraham" is still shown to travellers, about an hour's
ride from Hebron, the site being occupied by the ruins of a small convent.
A.D. 11G3.] EOUTE FKOM BETHLEHEM TO ASDOUI). 87
house there is a spring, and, out of respect to Abraham, no-
body is allowed to construct any building on that site.
It is five parasangs hence to Beit Jaberim, the ancient Ma-
reshah'!', where there are but three Jewish inhabitants. Five
parasangs further bring us to Toron de los Cabal leros, which
is Shunemfj inhabited by three hundred Jews. We then
proceed three parasangs to St. Samuel of Shiloh, the ancient
Shiloh, within two parasangs of Jerusalem. When the Chris-
tians took Ramleh, which is Ramah, from the Mohammedans,
they discovered the sepulchre of Samuel the Ramathi| near
the Jewish synagogue, and removed his remains to Shiloh,
where they erected a large place of worship over them, called
St. Samuel of Shiloh to the present day. Hence it is three
parasangs to Pesipua, which is Gibeah of Saul, or Geba of
Benjamin ; it contains no Jews. Three parasangs to Beith
Nubi, which is Nob, the city of the priests. In the middle
of the road are the two rocks of Jonathan §, the name of
one of which is Botsets, and of the other Sene. The two
Jews who live here are dyers.
It is three parasangs hence to Ramleh, which is Harama,
where you still find walls erected by our forefathers, as is
evident from the inscriptions upon the stones. The city con-
tains about three Jews ; but it was formerly very considerable,
for a Jewish cemetery in its vicinity is tw^o miles in extent.
Five parasangs hence to Jaffa, the Japho of Scripture, on the
coast; one Jew only, a dyer by profession, lives here. Three
parasangs to Ibelin, the ancient Jabneh||, where the site of the
schools may still be traced ; it contains no Jews. Here was
the frontier of the tribe of Ephraim. Two parasangs to Pal-
mis, or Asdoudll, formerly a city of the Philistines, at present
in ruins, and containing no Jews. Two parasangs to Ascalon,
^ Joshua, XV. 44. It is the Bethogabris of the Greek and Latin writers^
and supposed to be the Eleutheropolis of the early Christian fathers.
+ Joshua, xix. 18.
t 1 Sam. i. 1.
§ The rocks of Jonathan, mentioned (1 Sam. xiv. 5) as being between
G-ibeah and Michmash, and which formed a narrow path between the two
places, were also seen by Robinson and Smith. "Directly between Jeba
and Mukhmas are two conical hills, not very high, which are probably the
scene of Jonathan's romantic adventure against the Philistines, recorded in
1 Sam. xiv."
II 2 Chron. xxvi. 6.
^ The Azotus of the ancient geographers.
88 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1163.
which is in fact the New Ascalon, built on the coast by Esra
the priest, of blessed memory, and originally called Benebra,
distant about four parasniigs from ancient Ascalon, which lies
in ruins. This city is very large and handsome ; and mer-
chants from all parts resort to it, on account of its convenient
situation on the confines of Egypt. There are here about two
hundred rabbanite Jews, of whom the principal are K. Tse-
mach, R. iVaron, and R. Solomon, besides about forty Caraites,
and about three hundred Cutheans or Samaritans. In the
city is a fountain called Bir Ibrahim-al-Khahil, which was
dug in the time of the Philistines. From hence back to St.
George, which is Lydda, and in one day and a half to Serain,
the Jezreel of Scripture-!^, a city containing a remarkably
large fountain. It has one Jewish inhabitant, a dyer. Three
parasangs to Sufurieh, the Tsippori of antiquity f. The sepul-
chres of Rabenu Hakkadosh, of R. Chija, who came back from
Babylon, and of Jonah the son of Amittai the prophet, are
shown here ; they are buried in the mountain, which also
contains numerous other sepulchres.
From hence it is five parasangs to Tiberias, a city situated
on the Jordan, which here bears the name of the Sea of Chin-
nerethj, or Lake of Tiberias. Here are the falls of the Jor-
dan, in consequence of which the place bears also the name
of Ashdoth-Pisga§, which means " the place where the rapid
rivers have their fall:" the Jordan afterw^ards empties itself
into Lake Asphaltes, or the Dead Sea. Tiberias contains
about fifty Jew^s, the principal of whom are R. Abraham the
astronomer II, R. Muchthar, and R. Isaac. The hot waters,
which spout forth from under ground, are called the w^arm
baths of Tiberias. In the vicinity is the synagogue of Kha
* The Esdraela of the Greeks, called by the historians of the crusades
Gerinum and Zarain.
f Now called Sephoury.
Ij: Numbers, xxxiv. 11.
§ Deut. iii. 17.
II Durinor the middle ages Jews were not unfrequently employed as astro-
logers by the Arabian princes. R. Isaac, the son of Baruch (a.d. 1080),
appears, among others, to have rendered services of this kind to Almohammad.
King Alphonso of Castile also entertained Jews who were proficients in
astrology. The surname TW^n, astrologer, was borne by Abraham in Tiberias.
Eliezer, author of an astrological book of chances, lived in 1559. We also
find mention of Joseph, astrologer of Seifeddin, sultan of Mosul ; R. Isaac,
an astronomer of the twelfth century in France; and Salomon, an astro-
nomer in Nineveh.
A.D. 1163.] TEBNIN MEROON BELINAS. 89
leb, son of Jepuiieh ; and among numerous other Jewish
sepulchres are those of R. Jochanan, son of Zakhai^, and of
R. Jonathan, son of Levi. These are aR in Lower GaUlee.
Two parasangs bring us to Tebnin, the Thimnatha of Scrip-
ture f, W'here you find the sepulchre of Samuel (Simeon) the
Just, and many other sepulchres of Israelites. It is hence one
day to Gish, which is Gush Chaleb, and contains about twenty
Jewish inhabitants. We go hence six parasangs to Meroon,
which is Maron I; in a cave near this place are the sepulchres of
Hillel and Shamai, and of twenty of their disciples, as well as
those of R. Benjamin, son of Jephet, and of R. Juda, son of
Bethera. Six parasangs to Alma, which contains fifty Jewish
inhabitants, and a large cemetery of the Israelites. Half a
day brings you to Kades, which is Kadesh Naphtha! i, on the
banks of the Jordan. Here are the sepulchres of R. Eleasar,
son of Arach, of R. Eleasar, son of Asariah, of Chuni Hama-
agal, of R. Simeon, son of Gamaliel, of R. Jose Hagelili, and
of Barak the son of Abinoam §. This place contains no Jews.
A day's journey brings us to Belinas||, the ancient Dan^i,
* Jochanan, son of Zakhai, was a celebrated teacher of the Mishna in the
time of Vespasian ; later catalogues mention his sepulchre in Tiberias. The
Jews have a legend relating to him full of extraordinary fables. Some per-
sons have supposed him to be the ^^ John" mentioned in Acts iv. 6.
j- This identification is evidently an error, as Thimnatha was in Judea,
far to the south of Tiberias, and could not be Tebnin. Benjamin falls into
another error in placing here the sepulchre of Samuel, who was buried in
Ramah. Mr. Asher proposes to read Simeon.
X Meirun is still a place of pilgrimage to the Jews of the vicinity, who
resort thither on certain days to say prayers on the sepulchres of some rabbis ;
and this corroborates our text, according to which Hillel and Shamai, the two
most celebrated teachers of the Talmud, who flourished before the birth of
our Saviour, are interred in a cave near Merun. This legend must have been
very prevalent at our author's time, as it is also reported by Pethachia, who
adds that a large stone vase, situated in the cave of the sepulchre, filled itself
spontaneously with water whenever a worthy man entered it for the purpose
of devotion, but remained empty if the visitor was a man of doubtful
character. The two other persons whose sepulchres are mentioned here
were celebrated teachers of the law, v/ho flourished in the third and second
centuries; but Jewish writers appear to differ as to the places of their burial.
The second of them is said to have traced his descent from one of the skele-
tons restored to life by the prophet Ezekiel.
§ All the persons mentioned here were celebrated rabbis of the first cen-
tury before, and the three centuries after Christ, except Barak, who is well
known by the fourth chapter of the book of Judges.
II This is Paneas, or Baneas, the ancient Csesarea Philippi.
^ This identification is not quite correct, the ancient Dan having been
90 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a D. 1165.
wliere the traveller may see a cave, from whicli tlie Jordan
issues, and three miles hence this river unites its waters with
those of the Anion, a rivulet of the ancient land of Moab. In
front of the cave you may still trace vestiges of the altar of
the image of Micha, which was adored by the children of
Dan in ancient times. Here also is the site of the altar
erected by Jeroboam, son of Nebat, in honour of the golden
calf; and here were the confines of the land of Israel toward
the uttermost sea*.
Two days from this place brings you to Damascus, a large
city and the frontier town of the empire of Noureddinf, king
of the Thogarmim, or Turks. This city is very large and
handsome, and is inclosed with a wall and surrounded by a
beautiful country, which in a circuit of fifteen miles presents
the richest gardens and orchards, in such numbers and beauty
as to be without equal upon earth. The rivers AmanaJ: and
Parpar§, the sources of which are on Mount Hermon (on
which the city leans), run down here ; the Amana follows its
course through Damascus, and its waters are carried by
means of pipes into the houses of the principal inhabitants,
as well as into the streets and markets. A considerable trade
is carried on here by m.erchants of all countries. The Parpar
runs between the gardens and orchards in the outskirts, and
supplies them copiously with water. Damascus contains a
Mohammedan mosque, called "the Synagogue of Damascus,"
a building of unequalled magnificence. They say that it was
the palace of Ben-Hadad||, and that one wall of it is framed
of glass by enchantment. This wall contains as many open-
ings as there are days in the solar year, and the sun in gra-
situated on another small rivulet, still called Dan, and distant about four
Homan miles west of Paneas on the way to Tyre. William of Tyre also
identifies Dan with Caesarea. The apparent source of the Jordan flows from
under a cave at the foot of a precipice, in the sides of which are several
niches with Grreek inscriptions, which Benjamin has mistaken for the altar
of Micha.
* This is a mistake of rabbi Benjamin, as this term, used in Deut. xi, 24,
means the Mediterranean.
i' It is hardly necessary to state that this was the celebrated sultan of
Damascus, Aleppo, and Egypt, so well known in the history of the crusades.
He reigned from 1145 to 1173.
X 2 Kings, V. 12. The ancient Greek name of the river was Chrj^sorrhoas ;
in modern Arabic it is called the Barady.
§ 2 Kings V. 12. It is now called El Faige.
11 Jerem. xlix. 27; Amos, i. 4.
A.D. 1163.] DAMASCUS BAALBEC TADMOE. 91
dual succession throws its light into the openings, which are
divided into twelve degrees, equal to the number of the hours
of the day, so that by this contrivance every body may know
what time it is. The palace contains vessels richly orna-
mented wdth gold and silver, formed like tubs, and of a size
to allow three persons to bathe in them at once. In this
building is also preserved the rib of a giant, which measures
nine spans in length, and two in breadth, and which belonged
to an ancient giant king named Abchamas, whose name was
found engraved upon a stone of his tomb, and it was further
stated in the inscription that he reigned over the whole
■world.
This city contains three thousand Jews, many of whom are
learned and rich men ; it is the residence of the president of
the university of Palestine, named R. Esra, whose brother,
Sar Shalom, is the principal of the Jewish court of law. The
other distinguished Jews are R. Joseph, who ranges fifth in
the university, R. Matsliach, the lecturer and master of the
schools, R. Meir, a fio^ver of the learned, R. Joseph Ibn
Pilath, who may be called the prop of the university, R. He-
man the elder, and R. Zadok the physician. The city con-
tains also tw'O hundred Caraites and about four hundred
Samaritans, sects which here live upon friendly terms, but
they do not intermarry.
It is one day's journey thence to Jelaad, which is Gilead;
it contains about sixty Jews, the principal of whom is R.
Zadok. The city is large, well watered, and surrounded by
gardens and orchards. Half a day s journey further stands
Salkhat, the city of Salcah of Scripture. From thence to
Baalbec is half a day's journey. This is the city mentioned
in Scripture as Baalath in the valley of Lebanon, which Solo-
mon built for the daughter of Pharaoh. The palace is con-
structed of stones of enormous size, measuring twenty spans
in length and twelve in breadth ; no binding material holds
these stones together, and people pretend that the building
could have been erected only by the help of Ashmodai. A
copious spring takes its rise at the upper side of the city,
through which its waters rush like those of a considerable
river. They are employed in the working of several mills
within the city, which also incloses numerous gardens and
orchards.
Tadmor in the desert was also built by Solomon of equally
92 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1163,
large stones ; this city is surrounded by a wall, and stands in
the desert, far from any inhabited place, being four days'
journey distant from the above-mentioned Baalath. It con-
tains two thousand warlike Jews, w^ho are at war with the
Christians and with the Arabian subjects of Noureddin, and
assist their neighbours the Mohammedans. Their chiefs are
E. Isaac Hajevani, R. Nathan, and R. Usiel. Half a day
brings us to Cariyatin, which is Kirjathaim ; one Jew only,
a dyer by profession, lives there. One day hence is Hamah,
the Hamath of Scripture, on the Orontes, under Mount
Lebanon. Some time ago this city was visited by an earth-
quake, in consequence of w^hich fifteen thousand men died in
one day, leaving only seventy survivors -J^. The principals of
the Jews here are R. Ulah Hacohen, the sheikh Abu al Galeb,
and Muktar. Half a day to Reiha, which is Hazor. Three
parasangs to Lamdin, from whence it is a journey of two days
to Aleppo, the Aram Zoba of Scripture. This city is the re-
sidence of king Noureddin, and contains his palace, a build-
ing fortified by an extraordinarily high wall. There being
neither spring nor river, the inhabitants are obliged to drink
rain-water, which is collected in every house in a cistern
called in Arabic, Algub. The principal of the fifteen hundred
Jews who live in Aleppo are R. Moses el-Constandini, R.
Israel, and R. Seth.
To Bales, which is Pethor f on the Euphrates, two days.
Even at this day you there still find remains of the tower of
Balaam the son of Beor (may the name of the wicked rot!)
which he built in accordance with the hours of the day. This
place contains about ten Jew^s. Half a day hence we come
to Kala Jiaber J, which is Sela Midbarah. This city remained
* The earthquake alluded to visited this part of Syria in 1157, at which
period Hamah, Antiochia, Emessa, Apamea, Laodicea, and many other cities,
were laid in ruins. R. Benjamin calls the river Orontes Jabbok ; the
Arabians call it Oroad, or Asi. Rieha, or Rieha, is a name still borne by a
place and mountain in this part of the road from Damascus to Aleppo.
Burckhardt mentions ruins of numerous towns still visible on the mountain,
among which we must look for Lamdin, mentioned in our text, but by no
other traveller or geographer. The road between Damascus and Aleppo, pur-
sued even by all modern travellers, goes by Horns and Tadmor. Burckhardt
was the first to deviate from this route.
+ Numb. xxii. 5. Deut. xxiii. 4. It is the Barbarissus of the Romans.
Bales was taken by the crusaders under Tancred in 1111.
X The Dauses, or Davana, of the Greeks. In the history of the crusades,
Kalat (or fort) Jiaber is often mentioned ; and the circumstances alluded to
A.D. 1163.] THE HOUSE OF ABRAHAM. 93
in the power of the Arabs even at the time when the Tho-
garmim (or Turks) took their country and dispersed them in
the desert. It contains about two thousand Jews, of whom
E. Zedekiah, R. Chia, and R Solomon are the principal.
One day brings us to Racca, which is Calneh of Scripture *,
on the confines of Mesopotamia, being the frontier town
between that country and the empire of the Thogarmim (or
Turks) ; it contains about seven hundred Jewish inhabitants,
the principal of whom are R. Sakhai, R. Nadib, who is blind,
and R. Joseph. One of the synagogues was built by Esra the
scribe, when he returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. It is
one day hence to the ancient place of Haran f , which contains
twenty Jewish inhabitants, who also possess a synagogue erected
by Esra. Nobody is allowed to construct any building on the
spot where the house of our father Abraham was situated ;
even the Mohammedans pay respect to the place, and resort
thither to pray. Two days' journey from thence is I
at the mouth of the El-Khabur, the Habor of Scripture. This
river takes its course through Media, and loses itself in the
Kizil Ozein. About two hundred Jews dwell near this place.
Two days to Nisibin, a large city plentifully watered, and con-
taining about one thousand Jews. Two days to Jezireh Ben
Omar, an island in the Tigris, at the foot of Mount Ararat §,
and four miles distant from the spot where the ark of Noah
rested ; Omar Ben al-Khatab removed the ark from the sum-
mit of the two mountains and made a mosque of it. There
still exists in the vicinity of the ark a synagogue of Esra the
by our author are told at length by Desguignes. In Abulfeda's time this
place was a deserted ruin ; but the castle, built on a mound of marl and
gypsum, still stands, thirty-five miles below Bir, on the left bank of the
Euphrates.
* The Callinicus of the Greeks, afterwards called Nicephorium.
f The Carrhae of the ancients. The site of the house of Abraham is still
pointed out as an object of veneration. Mr. Asher observes that, from Aleppo
to Racca, our author, like most modern and ancient travellers, followed the
course of the Euphrates ; but being probably attracted, like Marco Polo, b}'
the considerable trade then carried on at Mosul, he proceeded thither from
Racca, by way of Haran, Nisibis, and Jezireh, a route pointed out as pro-
bably used by Alexander on Kennel's map of the retreat of the Ten Thousand.
X It appears that the name of a city is omitted here. Our author probably
wrote " from thence to Ras-el-Ain," at which place the Khabur becomes a
formidable river.
§ This is of course not the true Ararat. It is called Jebel Judi. The
island is the ancient Bezebde.
94 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1164
scribe, which is visited by the Jews of the city on the 9th of
Ab 'i^ The city of Jezireh Omar Ben al-Khatab contains
about four thousand Jews, the principals of whom are E. Mub-
char, E. Joseph, and E. Chiia.
Two days from thence stands Mosul, mentioned in Scripture
as Ashur the great, which contains about seven thousand Jews,
the principal of whom are E. Sakhai, the prince, a descendant
of King David, and E. Joseph, surnamed Borhan-al-Phulkh,
who is astronomer of Seifeddin, the brother of Noureddin,
king of Damascus. This city, situated on the confines of
Persia, is of great extent and very ancient ; it stands on the
banks of the Tigris, and is joined by a bridge to Nineveh.
Although the latter lies in ruins, there are numerous inhabited
villages and small towns on its site. Nineveh is on the
Tigris, distant one parasang from the town of Arbilf. Mosul
contains the synagogues of Obadiah, of Jonah, son of Amittai,
and of Nahum the Elkoshite. It is three days hence to
Eahabah, which is Eehoboth, by the river Euphrates, and con-
tains about two thousand Jews, the principal of whom are E.
Ezekiah, E. Ehud, and E. Isaac. The city is surrounded by
a wall, it is very handsome, large, and well fortified ; and the
environs abound with gardens and orchards. One day to
Karkisia j, the Carchemish of Scripture, on the banks of the
Euphrates, containing about five hundred Jewish inhabitants,
of whom the principal are E. Isaac and E. Elchanan. Two
days to Juba, which is Pumbeditha, in Nehardea; it contains
about two thousand Jews, some of them eminent scholars.
The rabbi E. Chen, E. Moses, and E. Eliakim are the prin-
cipal. Here the traveller may see the sepulchres of E. Juda
and E. Samuel, opposite two synagogues which they erected
during their lives ; as well as the sepulchres of Pi. Bosthenai,
the prince of the captivity, of E. Nathan, and of E. Nach-
man, the son of Papa §. Five days to Hardah (or Hadrah),
containing fifteen thousand Jews, of wdiom E. Saken, E.
Joseph, and E. Nathaniel are the principal. Two days to
Akbara, the city which was built by Jeconiah, king of Juda ;
it contains about ten thousand Jews, the principal of whom
are E. Joshua and E. Nathan.
* See p. 68, note. f The ancient Erbela. Ij: The ancient Cercusiiim.
§ All these were celebrated Jewish rabbis in the earlier centuries of the
Christian era.
A.D. 1164.] BAGDAD THE KlIALIF. 95
Two clays from thence stands Bagdad, the large metropolis
of the khalif Emir-al-Mumenin al Abassi, of the family of their
prophet, who is the chief of the Mohammedan religion ^^. All
Mohammedan kings acknowledge him, and he holds the same
dignity over them which the pope enjoys over the Christians.
The palace of the khalif at Bagdad is three miles in extent.
It contains a large park filled wdth all sorts of trees, both
useful and ornamental, and all kinds of beasts, as well as a pond
of water carried thither from the river Tigris ; and whenever
the khalif desires to enjoy himself and to sport and ca-
rouse, birds, beasts, and fishes are prepared for him and for
his courtiers, whom he invites to his palace. This great Abas-
side is extremely friendly towards the Jews, many of his
officers being of that nation ; he understands all languages, is
well versed in the Mosaic law, and reads and writes the
Hebrew tongue. He enjoys nothing but what he earns
by the labour of his own hands, and therefore manufactures
coverlets, which he stamps with his seal, and which his of-
ficers sell in the public market ; these articles are purchased
by the nobles of the land, and from their produce his neces •
saries are provided. The khalif is an excellent man, trust-
worthy and kind-hearted towards every one, but generally in-
visible to the Mohammedans. The pilgrims, who come hither
from distant countries on their way to Mecca in Yemen,
desire to he presented to him, and thus address him from the
palace : " Our lord, light of the Mohammedans and splendour
of our religion, show us the brightness of thy countenance ; "
but he heeds not their words. His servants and officers then
approach and pray : "0 lord, manifest thy peace to these
men who come from distant lands and desire shelter in the
shadow of thy glory." After this petition, he rises and puts
one corner of his garment out of the window, which the pil-
grims eagerly kiss. One of the lords then addresses them
thus : " Go in peace, for oar lord, the light of the Moham-
medans, is well pleased and gives you his blessing." This
prince being esteemed by them equal to their prophet, they
proceed on their way, full of joy at the words addressed to
them by the lord who communicated the message of peace.
All the brothers and other members of the khalif s family
* The khalif alluded to by Benjamin was either Moktafi, who died in
1160, or Mostanjehabnl-Modhaffer, who reigned from his death to 1170.
It is probable that Benjamin was at Bagdad in 1164.
96 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1164.
are accustomed to kiss his garments. Every one of tlieni
possesses a palace within that of the khalif, but thej are all
bound with chains of iron, and a special officer is appointed over
each household to prevent their rising in rebellion against
the great king. These measures are taken in conse-
quence of what occurred some time ago, when the brothers
rebelled and elected a king among themselves*; to prevent
which in future it was decreed, that all the members of the
khalif 's family should be chained, in order to prevent their
rebellious intentions. Every one of them, however, resides in
his palace, and is there much honoured; and they possess
villages and towns, the rents of which are collected for them
by their stewards. They eat and drink, and lead a merry
life. The palace of the great king contains large buildings,
pillars of gold and silver, and treasures of precious stones.
The khalif leaves his palace but once every year, viz. at
the time of the feast called Ramadan; on which occasion
many visitors assemble from distant parts, in order to have
an opportunity of beholding his countenance. He then be-
strides the royal mule, dressed in kingly robes, which are
composed of gold and silver cloth. On his head he wears a
turban, ornamented with precious stones of inestimable value ;
but over this turban is thrown a black veil, as a sign of humi-
lity, and as much as to say : " See all this worldly honour
will be converted into darkness on the day of death." He is
accompanied by a numerous retinue of Mohammedan nobles,
arrayed in rich dresses and riding upon horses, princes of
Arabia, of Media, of Persia, and even of Tibet, a country dis-
tant three months' journey from Arabia. The procession goes
from the palace to the mosque at the Bozra gate, which is
the metropolitan mosque. All who walk in procession, both
men and women, are dressed in silk and purple. The streets
and squares are enlivened with singing and rejoicing, and by
parties who dance before the great king, called khalif. He is
saluted loudly by the assembled crowd, who cry : " Blessed
art thou, our lord and king." He thereupon kisses his
garment, and by holding it in his hand, acknowledges and re-
turns the compliment. The procession moves on into the
court of the mosque, where the khalif mounts a wooden
pulpit and expounds their law unto them. The learned
Mohammedans rise, pray for him, and praise his great kind-
ness and piety; upon which the whole assembly answer,
A.D 1164.] THE CITY OF DAMASCUS. 97
" Amen ! " The klialif then pronounces his blessing, and kills
a camel, which is led thither for that purpose, and this is
their offering. It is distributed to the nobles, who send por-
tions of it to their friends, who are eager to taste of the meat
killed by the hands of their holy king, and are much re-
joiced therewith. The khalif, after this ceremony, leaves the
mosque, and returns alone, along the banks of the Tigris, to
his palace, the noble Mohammedans accompanying him in boats,
until he enters this building. He never returns by the way
he came ; and the path on the bank of the river is carefully
guarded all the year round, so as to prevent any one treading
in his footsteps. The khalif never leaves his palace again
for a whole year. He is a pious and benevolent man, and
has erected buildings on the other side of the river, on the
banks of an arm of the Euphrates, which runs on one side of
the city. These buildings include many large houses, streets,
and hostelries for the sick poor, who resort thither in order
to be cured. There are about sixty medical warehouses here,
all well provided from the king's stores with spices and other
necessaries ; and every patient who claims assistance is fed at
the king's expense, until his cure is completed.
There is further a large building, called Dar-al-Maraph-
tan '1', in which are confined all the insane persons who are
met with, particularly during the hot season, every one of
whom is secured by iron chains until his reason returns, when
he is allowed to return to his home. For this purpose they
are regularly examined once a month by officers appointed
by the king for that purpose; and when they are found to be
possessed of reason they are immediately liberated. All this
is done by the king in pure charity towards all who come to
Bagdad, either ill or insane ; for the king is a pious man, and
his intention is excellent in this respect.
Bagdad contains about one thousand Jews, who enjoy peace,
comfort, and much honour under the government of the great
king. Among them are very wise men and presidents of the
colleges, whose occupation is the study of the Mosaic law.
The city contains ten colleges. The principal of the great
college is the rabbi R. Samuel, the son of Eli, principal of
the college Geon Jacob ; the provost of the Levites is the
president of the second ; R. Daniel, the master of the third
* Dar-al-Morabittan in Arabic; literally, abode of those who require being
chained, i, e. of the raving mad.
H
98 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1164.
college; K. Eleasar, the fellow, presides over the fourth; R.
Eleasar, the son of Tsemach, is chief of the fifth college ; he
is master of the studies, and possesses a pedigree of his de-
scent from the prophet Samuel, who rests in peace, and he
and his brothers know the melodies that were sung in the
temple during its existence ; R. Chasadiah, principal fellow,
is the master of the sixth, R. Chagai, the prince, the principal
of the seventh, and R. Esra, the president of the eighth col-
lege ; R. Abraham, called Abu Tahir, presides over the ninth,
and R. Zakhai, son of Bosthenai, master of the studies, is pre-
sident of the tenth college. All these are called Batlanim,
i. e. the Idle : because their sole occupation consists in the
discharge of public business. During every day of the week
they dispense justice to all the Jewish inhabitants of the
country, except Monday, which is set aside for assemblies
under the presidency of the rabbi Samuel, master of the col-
lege Geon Jacob, who on that day dispenses justice to every
applicant, and is assisted therein by the other Batlanim, presi-
dents of the colleges.
The principal of all these, however, is R. Daniel, the son of
Chisdai, who bears the titles of Prince of the Captivity and
Lord, and who possesses a pedigree which proves his descent
from king David. The Jews call him " Lord, Prince of the
Captivity," and the Mohammedans entitle him Saidna Ben
Daoud, noble descendant of David. He holds great com-
mand over all Jewish congregations under the authority of
the Emir-al-Mumenin, the lord of the Mohammedans, who
lias commanded that he shall be respected, and has confirmed
his power by granting him a seal of office. Every one of his
subjects, whether he be Jew or Mohammedan or of any other
faith, is commanded to rise in the presence of the prince of
the captivity, and to salute him respectfully, under a penalty
of one hundred stripes. Whenever he pays a visit to the
king, he is escorted by numerous horsemen, both Jews and
Gentiles, and a crier proclaims aloud : " Make way before our
lord the son of David, as becomes his dignity ; " in Arabic,
Amilu tarik la-saidna hen-Daud. Upon these occasions
lie rides upon a horse, and his dress is composed of em-
broidered silk; on his head he wears a large turban
covered with a white cloth, and surmounted by a chain (or
diadem). The authority of the prince of the captivity extends
over the countries of Mesopotamia, Persia, Khorassan, Seba,
A.D 1164.] THE PRINCE OF THE CAPTIVITY. 99
which is Yemen, Diarbekh, all Armenia and the land of Kota
near Mount Ararat, over the country of the Alanians, which
is shut in by mountains, and has no outlet except by the iron
gates which were made by Alexander, over Sikbia and all the
provinces of the Turkmans unto the Aspisian mountains, over
the country of the Georgians unto the river Oxus (these are
the Girgasim of Scripture, and believe in Christianity), and
as far as the frontiers of the provinces and cities of Tibet and
India. All the Jewish congregations of these different coun-
tries receive authority from the prince of captivity to elect
rabbis and ministers, all of whom appear before him in order
to receive consecration -i'^ and the permission to officiate, upon
which occasions presents and valuable gifts are offered to him,
even from the remotest countries. The prince of the cap-
tivity possesses hostelries, gardens, and orchards in Babylonia,
and extensive landed property inherited from his forefathers,
of which nobody can deprive him. He enjoys a certain yearly
income from the Jewish hostelries, the markets, and the mer-
chandise of the country, which is levied in form of a tax, over
and above what is presented to him from foreign countries.
He is very rich, an excellent scholar, and so hospitable, that
numerous Israelites dine at his table every day. At the time
of the installation of the prince of the captivity he expends
considerable sums in presents to the king (or khalif), and to
his princes and nobles. This ceremony is performed by the
king or khalif, who lays his hands on the prince, after which
the latter rides home from the king's abode to his own house,
seated in a royal state carriage, and accompanied with the
sound of various musical instruments ; he afterwards lays his
hands on the gentlemen of the university, to reins tal them.
Many of the Jews of Bagdad are good scholars and very rich.
The city contains twenty-eight Jewish synagogues, situated
partly in Bagdad and partly in Al-Khorkh, on the other side
of the river Tigris, which runs through and divides the city.
The metropolitan synagogue of the prince of the captivity is
ornamented with pillars of richly coloured marble, plated with
gold and silver; on the pillars are inscribed verses of the
.Psalms in letters of gold. The ascent to the holy ark f is
* The ceremony of consecration, performed by the prince of captivity^
consisted in his laying his hands on the heads of the candidates.
+ The place where the rolls of the Pentateuch are deposited. It is gene-
rally elevated aljove the seats of the congregation.
h2
100 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1164.
composed of ten marble steps, on the uppermost of which are
the stalls set apart for the prince of the captivity and the
other princes of the house of David.
The city of Bagdad is three miles in circumference ; the
country in which it is situated is rich in palm-trees, gardens,
and orchards, so that nothing equals it in Mesopotamia.
Merchants of all countries resort thither for purposes of trade,
and it contains many wise philosophers, well skilled in sciences,
and magicians proficient in all sorts of enchantment.
Two days from hence stands Gihiagin, or Ras-al-Ain, which
is Resen, "the great city;"-!^ it contains about five thousand
Jews and a large synagogue. In a house near the synagogue
is the sepulchre off ; and, in a cave below it, that of
his twelve disciples. From hence it is one day to Babylon.
This is the ancient Babel, and now lies in ruins ; but the
streets still extend thirty miles. The ruins of the palace of
Nebuchadnezzar are still to be seen ; but people are afraid to
venture among them on account of the serpents and scoi-pions
with which they are infested. Twenty thousand Jews live
within about twenty miles from this place, and perform their
worship in the synagogue of Daniel, who rests in peace. This
synagogue is of remote antiquity, having been built by Daniel
himself; it is constructed of solid stones and bricks. Here
the traveller may also behold the palace of Nebuchadnezzar,
with the burning fiery furnace into which w^ere thrown Hana-
niah, Mishael, and Azariah; it is a valley well known to
every one J. Hillah, which is at a distance of five miles,
contains about ten thousand Jews and four synagogues, one
of which is that of R. Meier, whose sepulchre is in front of it ;
another is that of R. Seiri, son of Hama, and R. Miri§.
Public worship is performed daily in these synagogues. Four
miles from hence is the tower built by the dispersed gene-
ration ||. It is constructed of bricks called al-ajurr; the base
measures two miles, the breadth two hundred and forty yards,
* Gen. X. 12. Ras-al-Ain is the Ressaina of tlie Romans; it is errone-
ously identified with Resen.
+ The name is omitted in all editions.
X This tradition of the burning furnace is mentioned by the Arabian geo-
graphers, by whom we are further informed that the ashes still remained.
§ These are also some of the early rabbis concerning whom the Jews pos-
sess many legends; the places of burial of others are mentioned further on.
il Benjamin here alludes to the Birs Nimrud, which is, however, more than
four miles from Hillah. Al-ajnrr is the Persian word for these bricks.
A.D. ]365.] THE SEPULCHRE OF EZEKIEL. 101
and the height about one hundred canna. A spiral passage,
built into the tower (in stages of ten yards each), leads up to
the summit, from which we have a prospect of twenty miles,
the country being one wide plain and quite level. The heavenly
fire, which struck the tower, split it to its very foundation.
Half a day from hence, at Napacha *, which contains two
hundred Jews, is the synagogue of R. Isaac Napacha, in
front of which is his sepulchre. Three parasangs hence, on
the banks of the Euphrates, stands the synagogue of the
prophet Ezekiel, who rests in peace f . The place of the sy-
nagogue is fronted by sixty towers, the space between every
two of which is also occupied by a synagogue ; in the court of
the largest stands the ark, and behind it is the sepulchre of
Ezekiel, the son of Buzi the priest. This monument is
covered with a large cupola, and the building is very hand-
some ; it was erected by Jechoniah, king of Juda, and the
thirty five thousand Jews who went along with him, when
Evil-Merodach released him from the prison |, which was
situated between the river Chaboras and another river. The
names of Jechoniah and of all those who came with him are
inscribed on the wall, the king's name first, that of Ezekiel
last. This place is considered holy even to the present day,
and is one of those to which people resort from remote coun-
tries in order to pray, particularly at the season of new year
and atonement day §. There are great rejoicings here at
that time, which are attended even by the prince of the cap-
tivity and the presidents of the colleges of Bagdad. The
assembly is so large, that their temporary abodes cover twenty-
two miles of open ground, and attract many Arabian mer-
chants, who keep a market or fair. On the day of atonement
the proper lesson of the day is read from a very large manu-
script Pentateuch in Ezekiel's own handwriting. A lamp
burns night and day on the sepulchre of the prophet, and has
always been kept burning since the day he lighted it himself;
the oil and wicks are renewed as often as necessary. A large
house belonging to the sanctuary contains a very numerous
collection of books, some of them as ancient as the second,
* Perhaps the Nachaba of Ptolemy. It is not found in modem maps.
+ This celebrated sepulchre is still a place of pilgrimage to the Jews and
Mohammedans in the east.
Ij: 2 Kings, XXV. 27. Jerem. lii. 81.
§ Celebrated on the first and tenth of Thishri (about the end of September
or the beginning of October).
103 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1165.
some even coeval \\atli the first temple, it being the custom
that whoever dies childless bequeaths his books to this sanc-
tuary. The inhabitants of the country lead to the sepulchre
all foreign Jews, who come from Media and Persia to visit it
in fulfilment of vows. The noble Mohammedans also resort
thither to pray, because they hold the prophet Ezekiel, on
whom be peace ! in great veneration, and they call this place
Dar Melicha (the agreeable abode) ; the sepulchre is also
visited by all devout Arabs. Within half a mile of the syna-
gogue are the sepulchres of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
each covered with a large cupola. Even in times of war,
neither Jew nor Mohammedan ventures to despoil and profane
the sepulchre of Ezekiel.
Three miles from hence stands the city of Al-Kotsonaath,
containing three hundred Jewish inhabitants and the sepul-
chres of 6. Papa, K. Huna, R. Joseph Sinai, and R. Joseph,
the son of Hama, in front of each of which is a synagogue in
which Jews daily pray. Three parasangs to Ain Japhata,
which contains the sepulchre of the prophet Nahum the Elko-
shite, who rests in peace. In a Persian village, a day from
thence, are the sepulchres of R. Chisdai, R. Akiba, and R.
Dossa ; and in another village, half a day's distance in the
desert, are those of R. David, R. Juda, R. Kubreh, R. Se-
chora, and R. Aba ; and on the river Lega, a distance of one
day, that of king Zedekiah-^, who rests in peace; the latter is
ornamented by a large cupola f . It is one day hence to the
city of Kufa, which contains about seventy thousand Jews ; and
in it is the sepulchre of king Jechoniah, which consists of a
large building with a synagogue in front. One day and a half
to Sura, the place called in the Talmud Matha-Mechasia,
formerly the residence of the princes of the captivity and of
the principals of the colleges. At Sura are the sepulchres of
R. Shrira and his son Rabenu Hai, Rabenu Sadiah-al-Fajumi,
R. Samuel, the son of Chophni the priest, and Zephaniah, the
son of Khushi, the son of Gedaliah the prophet, and of many
other princes of the captivity, descendants of the house of
David, who formerly resided there before the city was ruined.
* 2 Kings, xxiv. 17.
f The sites of Ain Japhata, and the other places mentioned here, have not
yet been traced by modern travellers. Colonel Shiel (' Journal of the Geog.
Soc./ vol. viii, p. 93) found a tomb near l^lkoth, east of the Tigris, at the foot
of the mountains which border Kurdistan, which the natives described as
that of Nahum.
A.D. 1165.] AEABIA. 103
Two days from thence is Shafjathib, where there is a syna-
gogue, which the Israelites erected with earth and stones
brought from Jerusalem, and which they called " the trans-
planted of Nehardea." One day and a half from thence is El
Jubar, or Pombeditha, on the river Euphrates, containing about
three thousand Jews, and the synagogues, sepulchres, and col-
leges of Eab and Samuel.
At twenty-one days' journey through the desert of Sheba,
or Al- Yemen, from which Mesopotamia lies in a northerly
direction, are the abodes of the Jews who are called Beni
(children of) Kechab, men of Thema. The seat of their
government is at Thema (or Tehama), where their prince and
governor rabbi Chanan resides. This city is large, and the
extent of their country is sixteen days' journey towards the
northern mountain range. They possess large and strong
cities and are not subject to any of the Gentiles, but undertake
warlike expeditions into distant provinces with the Ara-
bians, their neighbours and allies, to take the spoil and the
prey. These Arabians are Bedouins, who live in tents in the
deserts and have no fixed abode, and who are in the habit of
undertaking marauding expeditions into the province of
Yemen. The Jews are a terror to their neighbours. Their
country being very extensive, some of them cultivate the land
and rear cattle. A number of studious and learned men,
who spend their lives in the study of the law, are maintained
by the tithes of all produce, part of which is also employed
towards sustaining the poor and the ascetics, called " Mourners
of Sion " and ''- Mourners of Jerusalem." These eat no meat
•and abstain from wine, dress always in black, and live in
caves or in low houses, and keep fasts all their lives except
on Sabbaths and holy-days '^. They continually implore the
mercy of God for the Jews in exile, and devoutly pray that
he may have compassion on them for the sake of his own
great nauie ; and they also include in their prayers all the
Jews of Tehama and of Telmas. The latter contains about
one hundred thousand Jews, who are governed by prince
Salomon, who, as well as his brother, prince Chanan, are de-
scendants of the royal house of David, who rests in peace,
which is proved by their pedigrees. In doubtful cases they
solicit the decisions of the prince of the captivity, and set
* Fasting being prohibited on these days by the Talmud. This proves
Niebuhr's supposition, that they were Talmudists, to be correct.
104 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1165.
aside forty days of every year, during whicli they go in rent
clothes, and keep fasts, and pray for all the Jews who live in.
exile.
The province of which Thanaejm is the metropolis con-
tains forty cities, two hundred villages, and one hundred
email tow^ns, and is inhabited by about three hundred thousand
Jews. Thanaejm is a very strong city, fifteen square miles in
extent, and large enough to allow agriculture to be carried on
within its boundaries ; within which are also situated the
palace of prince Salomon, and many gardens and orchards.
Telmas is also a city of considerable magnitude ; it contains
about one hundred thousand Jews, is strongly fortified, and
situated between two very high mountains. Many of its in-
habitants are w^ell informed, wise, and rich. The distance
from Telmas to Chaibar is three days journey. It is reported
that these Jews are of the tribes of Eeuben, Gad, and half the
tribe of Manasseh, who were led away captives by Shalmaneser,
king of Ashur, and who repaired into these mountainous regions,
where they erected the above-named large and strong cities.
They carry on war with many kingdoms, and are not easily
to be reached because of their situation, which requires a
march of eighteen days through uninhabited deserts, and
thus renders them difficult of access.
Chaibar is also a very large city, and contains among its
fifty thousand Jewish inhabitants many learned scholars.
The people of this city are valiant, and engaged in wars with
the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, with those of the northern
districts, and with those of Yemen, who live near them ; the
latter province borders on India. It is a distance of twenty-
five days' journey from the country of these Jews to .... ^
on the river Virah, in Yemen, which place contains about
three thousand Jews. Wasetf is distant seven days, and
contains about ten thousand Jew^s, among whom is R. Nedain.
Eive days hence bring us to Bassora on the Tigris, which
contains two thousand Israelites, many of w^hom are learned
and wealthy. From hence it is tw^o days to t on
* The name of a city appears to be omitted here.
f Waset is the ancient Cybate. The Hebrew text reads Naset, which
Mr. Asher has rightly corrected.
:J: The name of a city is omitted here ; no doubt Kornah, on the Samarra,
or ancient Delos. The sepulchre of Ezra is described by various moderu
travellers ; it is still an object of pilgrimage to the Jews of the east.
A.D. 1165.] SHUSIIAN — THE SEPULCHKE OF DANIEL. 105
the river Samarra, or Shat-el-Arab. This is the frontier of
Persia, and contains fifteen hundred Jews. The sepulchre of
Ezra the priest and scribe is in this place, where he died on
his journey from Jerusalem to king Artaxerxes. In front of
the sepulchre a large synagogue and a Mohammedan mosque
have been erected, the latter as a mark of the veneration in
which Ezra is held by the Mohammedans, who are very friendly
towards the Jews, and resort thither to pray.
Four miles from thence begins Khuzistan, the Elam of Scrip-
ture, a large province, which, however, is but partially inhar
bited, a portion of it lying in ruins. Among the latter are
the remains of Shushan-^'^ the metropolis and palace of king
Ahasuerus, wiiich still contains very large and handsome build-
ings of ancient date. It has seven thousand Jewish inhabitants,
with fourteen synagogues ; in front of one of which is the
sepulchre of Daniel, who rests in peace. The river Ulai
divides the city into two parts, which are connected by a
bridge; that portion of it which is inhabited by the Jews
contains the markets, to which all trade is confined, and there
all the rich dwell ; on the other side of the river they are
poor, because they are deprived of the above-named advan-
tages, and have even no gardens or orchards. These circum-
stances gave rise to jealousy, which was fostered by the belief
that all honour and riches originated in the possession of the
remains of the prophet Daniel, who rests in peace, and who
was buried on the favoured side of the river. A request was
made by the poor for permission to remove the sepulchre to
the other side, but it was rejected; upon wliich a war arose,
and was carried on between the two parties for a length of
time; this strife lasted until "their souls become loath," and
they came to a mutual agreement, by which it was arranged
that the coffin which contained Daniel's bones should be de-
posited alternately every year on either side. Both parties
faithfully adhered to this arrangement, until it was inter-
rupted by the interference of Sanjar Shah ben Shalif, who go-
verns all Persia, and holds supreme power over forty-five of its
■* The exact site of Shushan (Susa) is a subject of some doubt among
modern geographers. The old Arabian writers give a variety of legends
relating to Daniel's tomb.
f Sanjar was a very celebrated and powerful prince. He conquered Samar-
kand in 1140, and died in 1157, shortly before Benjamin visited the east.
106 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1165
kings. This prince is called in Arabic Sultan-al-Fars-al-
Khabir (Supreme Commander of Persia), and his empire ex-
tends from the banks of the Shat-el-Arab to the city of Sa-
markand and the Kizil Ozein, inclosing the city of Nishapur,
the cities of Media, and the Chaphton mountains, and reaches
as far as Thibet, in the forests of which country that quadruped
is found which yields the musk. The extent of his empire
is four months and four days' journey. When this great em-
peror, Sanjar king of Persia, came to Shushan and saw that
the coffin of Daniel was removed from one side to the other,
he crossed the bridge with a very numerous retinue, accom-
panied by Jews and Mohammedans, and inquired into the rea-
son of those proceedings. Upon being told what we have
related, he declared it to be derogatory to the honour of
Daniel, and commanded that the distance between the two
banks should be exactly measured, that Daniel's coffin should
be deposited in another coffin, made of glass, and that it
should be suspended from the centre of the bridge by chains
of iron. A place of public worship was erected on the spot,
open to every one who desired to say his prayers, whether he
be Jew or Gentile; and the coffin of Daniel is suspended
from the bridge unto this very day. The king commanded
that, in honour of Daniel, nobody should be allowed to fish in
the river one mile on each side of the coffin.
It is three days hence to Rudbar, which contains twenty
thousand Jews, among whom are many scholars and rich men,
but they generally live under great oppression. Two days
hence bring us to the river Holwan, near which you find the
abodes of about four thousand Jews. Four days to the dis-
trict of Mulehet*, possessed by a sect who do not believe in
the tenets of Mohammed, but live on the summit of high moun-
tains, and pay obedience to the commands of the Old Man in
the country of the Assassins. Four congregations of Jews dwell
among them, and combine with them in their wars. They
do not acknowledge the authority of the kings of Persia, but
live on their mountains, whence they occasionally descend to
make booty and to take spoil, with which they retire to their
mountain fortresses, beyond the reach of their assailants.
* Benjamin's account of the Assassins, and their residence at Mulehet,
coincides very closely with that given by Marco Polo. It has been supposed
that the sect of the Assassins originated in this district of Persia.
A.D. 11G5.1 AMAKIA — DAVID EL-ROY. 107
Some of the Jews who live in this country are excellent
scholars, and all acknowledge the authority of the prince of
the captivity, who resides at Bagdad in Babylonia.
Five days from hence is Amaria, which contains five-and-
twenty thousand Jews. This congregation forms part of
those who live in the mountains of Chaphton, and which
amount t/) more than a hundred, extending to the frontiers of
Media These Jews are descendants of those who were ori-
ginally led into captivity by king Shalmaneser ; they speak the
Syriac language, and among them are many excellent Tal-
mudic scholars ; they are neighbours to those of the city of
Amaria, which is situated within one day's journey of the
empire of Persia, to the king of which they are tributary.
This tribute is collected by a deputy, and amounts here, as
well as in all Mohammedan countries, to one amiri of gold,
equal to one golden maravedi and one-third, for each male in-
habitant of the age of fifteen and upwards.
Ten years ago ^ there rose a man of the name of David
El-Roy, of the city of Amaria, who had studied under the
prince of the captivity, Chisdai, and under Eli, the president
of the college of Geon Jacob in the city of Bagdad, and who
became an excellent scholar, being well versed in the Mosaic
law, in the decisions of the rabbins, and in the Talmud ; un-
derstanding also the profane sciences, the language and the
writings of the Mohammedans, and the scriptures of the ma-
gicians and enchanters. He made up his mind to rise in
rebellion against the king of Persia, to unite and collect the
Jews who live in the mountains of Chaphton, and with them to
engage in war with all Gentiles, making the conquest of Je-
rusalem his final object. He gave signs to the Jews by false
miracles, and assured them, " the Lord has sent me to conquer
Jerusalem, and to deliver you from the yoke of the Gentiles."
Some of the Jews did believe in him, and called him Messiah.
When the king of Persia became acquainted with these circum-
stances, he sent and summoned David into his presence. The
latter went without fear, and when brought before the court
lie was asked, "Art thou the king of the Jews?" to which
^ That is, probably, in A.D. 1155 ; for 1165 appears to be about the year
in which Benjamin of Tudela visited Persia. The history of David El- Roy,
and the scene of his imposture, have been illustrated by Major Rawlinson in a
memoir communicated to the Greographical Society of London, and printed in
its Transactions.
108 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1165.
he made answer and said, *' I am." Upon this the king im-
mediately commanded that he should be secured and put into
the prison where the captives are kept who are imprisoned
for life, situated in the city of Dabaristan, on the banks of
the Kizil Ozein, which is a broad river. After a lapse of
three days, when the king sat in council to take the advice of
his nobles and officers respecting the Jews who had rebelled
against his authority, David appeared among them, having
liberated himself from prison without human aid. When the
king beheld him he inquired, " Who has brought thee hither,
or who has set thee at liberty?" To which David made an-
sw^er, "My ow^n wisdom and subtil ity ; for verily I fear neither
thee nor thy servants." The king immediately commanded
that he should be seized, but his servants answered and said,
*' We see him not, and are aware of his presence only by
hearing the sound of his voice." The king was very much
astonished at David's exceeding subtility, who thus ad-
dressed him: "I now go my ow^n way;" and he went
out, followed by the king and all his nobles and servants to
the banks of the river, where he took his shawl, spread it
upon the water, and crossed it thereupon. At that moment
he became visible, and all the servants of the king saw him
cross the river on his shawl. He was pursued by them in
boats, but without success, and they all confessed that no
magician upon earth could equal him. He that very day tra-
velled to Amaria, a distance of ten days' journey, by the help
of the Shem Hamphorash*, and related to the astonished
Jews all that had happened to him. The king of Persia after-
wards sent to the Emir-el-Mumenin, the khalif of Bagdad,
principal of the Mohammedans, to solicit the influence of the
prince of the captivity, and of the presidents of the colleges,
in order to check the proceedings of David El-Roy, and
threatening to put to death all Jews who inhabited his empire.
The congregations of Persia were very severely dealt with
about that time, and sent letters to the prince of the cap-
tivity and the presidents of the colleges at Bagdad to the fol-
lowing purpose: " Why will you allow us to die, and all the
congregations of this empire ? Restrain the deeds of this man,
* Shem Hamphorash, literally, the explained name, the letters of the word
Jehovah in their full explanation, a mystery known but to very few, and by
which it is believed wonders may be executed. The wonders performed by
Jesus are ascribed in the Talmud to his knowledge of this mystery.
A.D. 1165.] HISTORY OF DAVID EL-EOY. 109
and prevent thereby the shedding of innocent blood." The
prince of the captivity and the president of the colleges here-
upon addressed David in letters which run thus : " Be it
known unto thee that the time of our redemption has not yet
arrived, and that we have not yet seen the signs by which it
is to manifest itself, and that by strength no man shall pre-
vail. We therefore command thee to discontinue the course
thou hast adopted, on pain of being excommunicated from all
Israel." Copies of these letters were sent to Sakhai, the
prince of the Jews in Mosul, and to R. Joseph the astronomer,
who is called Borhan-al-Fulkh, and also resides there, with
the request to forward them to David El-Roy. The last men-
tioned prince and the astronomer added letters of their own,
in which they advised and exhorted him ; but he nevertheless
continued in his criminal career. This he carried on until a
certain prince of the name of Sin-el-Din, a vassal of the king
of Persia, and a Turk by birth, cut it short by sending for
the father-in-law of David El-Roy, to whom he offered ten
thousand florins if he would secretly kill David El-Roy. This
agreement being concluded, he went to David's house while
he slept, and killed him on his bed, thus destroying his plans
and evil designs. Notwithstanding this, the wrath of the
king of Persia still continued against the Jews who lived in
the mountains and in his country, who in their turn craved
the influence of the prince of the captivity with the king of
Persia. Their petitions and humble prayers were supported
by a present of one hundred talents of gold, in consideration
of which the anger of the king of Persia was subdued, and
the land was tranquillized.
From that mountain to Hamadan^- is a journey often days ;
this was the metropolis of Media, and contains about fifty
thousand Jews. In front of one of the synagogues is the
sepulchre of Mordecai and Esther. Four days from thence
stands Dabaristanf, on the river Kizil Ozein; it contains
about four thousand Jewish inhabitants. The city of Ispahan
is distant seven days' journey; it is the metropolis of Persia,
and residence of the king, being twelve miles in extent, and
containing about fifteen thousand Jews. Sar Shalom, the rabbi
* Hamadan, which is now in a state of ruin, is said to stand on or near
the site of the ancient Ecbatana. The sepulchre of Mordecai and Esther is
still shown there.
f This town is conjectured to be Farahabad.
110 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1165.
of this city and of all other towns of the Persian empire,
has been promoted to the dignity by the prince of the cap-
tivity.
Four days distant stands Shiraz, or Fars, a large city,
containing about ten thousand Jews. It is seven days
thence to Giva-'s a large city on the banks of the Oxus, con-
taining about eight thousand Jews. Very extensive commerce
is carried on in this place, to which traders of all countries
and languages resort ; the country about it is very flat. Five
days from thence, on the frontiers of the kingdom, stands
Samarkand, a city of considerable magnitude, which contains
about fifty thousand Jews. The prince rabbi Obadiah is the
governor of the community, w^hich includes many wise and
learned men. Four days from thence is the province of
Tibet, in the forests of which country that beast is found which
yields the musk. To the mountains of Khazvin, on the river
Kizil Ozein, it is a journey of eight-and- twenty days. Jews of
those parts, who live in Persia at present, report that the
cities of Nisapour are inhabited by four tribes of Israel, viz.,
the tribe of Dan, that of Zebulon, and that of Naphthali, being
part of the first exiles who w-ere carried into captivity by
Shalmaneser, king of Ashur, as reported in Scripture f. He
banished them to Halah and Habor, the mountains of Gozan,
and the mountains of Media. The extent of their country is
twenty days' journey, and they possess many towns and cities
in the mountains. The river Kizil Ozein forms their boun-
dary on one side, and they are subject to no nation, but are
governed by their own prince, who bears the name of rabbi
Joseph Amarkhela HaleviJ. Some of these Jews are excellent
scholars; others carry on agriculture; and many of them
are engaged in w^ar with the country of Cuth, by way of the
desert. They are in alliance with the Caphar Tarac, or
infidel Turks §, who adore the "wind and live in the desert.
^ The city of Kkiva.
+ 2 Kings, xvii. 6, and xviii. 11. And tlie king of Assyria did carry
away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor, by the
river Grozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
X Of the tribe of Levi, the descendants of which are divided into Leviim
and Khohanira, and are the only Jews who to this day claim the descent from
a certain tribe, all others having mixed and become extinct in the course of
time.
§ These were the Ghuzes, a Turkish tribe who emigrated in the twelfth
century from the country to the north of the Oxus. The events mentioned
A,D. 1166.] THE CAPHAR TARAC INVADE PERSIA. Ill
This is a people who eat no bread and drink no wine, but
devour the meat raw and quite unprepared; they have no
noses, but draw breath through two small holes, and eat all
sorts of meat, whether from clean or unclean beasts. They
are on very friendly terms with the Jews.
About eighteen years ago this nation invaded Persia with
a numerous host, and took the city of Rai, which they smote
with the edge of the sword, carrying off the spoil to their
deserts. Nothing similar had been seen before in the king-
dom of Persia; and when the king of that country was made
acquainted with this occurrence, his wrath was kindled, for,
said he, " in the time of my predecessors no host like this
ever issued from the desert; I will go and will extinguish
their name from the earth." He raised the war-cry in the
whole empire, collected all his troops, and made inquiry
whether he could find any guide that would shov/ him the
place where his enemies pitched their tents. A man was met
with, who spoke thus to the king : "I will show thee the place
of their retreat, for I am one of them." The king promised to
enrich him if he would fulfil his promise, and show him the
way. Upon inquiry how many provisions would be necessary
for this long march through the desert, the spy answered :
'* take with you bread and water for fifteen days, as you will
find no provisions whatever before you reach their country."
This advice being acted upon, they travelled fifteen days in
the desert, and as they met with nothing that could serve for
sustenance, they became extremely short of provisions, and
men and beasts began to die. The king sent for the spy, and
thus spoke to him : " What is become of thy promise to show
us our enemy?" No other reply being made than '• I have
mistaken my way," the head of the spy was cut off by the
king's command. Orders were issued that every one who had
any provisions left should share them with his companion ;
but every thing eatable was consumed, even the beasts, and
after travelling thirteen additional days in the desert, they at
last reached the mountains of Khazvin, where the Jews dwell.
They encamped in the gardens and orchards, and near the
springs, which are in the vicinity of the river Kizil Ozein. It
in the text seem to have occurred in 1153, when the Grhuzes revolted against
the Persians, defeated the sultan, and plundered Mero and Nishabour. The
sultan was made a prisoner, and only escaped and returned to his own country
112 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. I 166.
being the fruit season, they made free with it and destroyed
much, but no living being came forward. They saw, how-
ever, cities and many towers on the mountains, and the king
commanded two of his servants to go and inquire the name
of the nation which inhabited these mountains, and to cross
over to them, either in boats or by swimming the river.
They at last discovered a large bridge, fortified by towers, and
secured by a gate which was locked, and on the other side of
the bridge a considerable city. They shouted on their side of
the bridge until at last a man came forth to inquire what they
wanted or to whom they belonged. They could not, however,
make themselves understood, but brought an interpreter who
spoke both languages ; the questions being repeated, they
replied : *' We are the servants of the king of Persia, and have
come to inquire who you are and whose subjects." The
answer was : " We are Jews, we acknowledge no king or prince
of the Gentiles, but are subjects of a Jewish prince." Upon
inquiries after the Ghuzi, the Caphar Tarac or infidel Turks,
the Jews made answer : " Verily they are our allies, and
whoever seeks to harm them we consider our own enemy."
The two men returned and reported this to the king of Persia,
who became much afraid, and particularly so when, after a
lapse of two days, the Jews sent a herald to offer him battle.
The king said, " I am not come to make war against you, but
against the Caphar Tarac, or infidel Turks, who are my
enemies ; and if you attack me I will certainly take my ven-
geance, and will destroy all the Jews in my own kingdom, for
I am well aware of your superiority over me in my present
position ; but I entreat you to act kindly and not to harass me,
but allow me to fight with the Caphar Tarac, my enemy, and
also to sell me as much provision as I want for the main-
tenance of my host." The Jews took counsel among them-
selves, and determined to compl}^ with the request of the king
of Persia for the sake of his Jewish subjects. The king and
all his host were consequently admitted into the country of
the Jews, and during his stay of fifteen days he was treated
with most honourable distinction and respect. The Jews,
however, meanwhile sent information to their allies, the
Caphar Tarac, and made them acquainted with the above-
mentioned circumstances ; these took possession of all the moun-
tain passes, and assembled a considerable host, consisting of all
the inhabitants of that desert and when the king of Persia
A.D. 1166.J ISIAND OF KISH. 113
went forth to give them battle, the Caphar Tarac conquered,
killing and slaying so many of the Persians, that the king
escaped to his country with only very few followers. One of
the horsemen of the retinue of the king enticed a Jew of that
country, named R. Moses, to go along with him ; he carried this
man with him into Persia, and there made him a slave. Upon
a certain day, when the king was the spectator of sports carried
on for his amusement, and consisting principally of the exer-
cise of handling the bow, among all competitors none excelled
this R. Moses. The king thereupon inquired after this man
by means of an interpreter, and was told what had happened
to him, and how he had been forcibly carried away from his
country by the horseman ; upon learning which the king not
only immediately granted him his liberty, but gave him a
dress of honour, composed of silk and fine linen, and many
other presents. A proposal was also made to R. Moses, that
if he would renounce his religion for that of the Persians, he
should be treated with the utmost kindness, should gain con-
siderable riches, and be made the king's steward ; but he re-
fused, and said, " I cannot make up my mind to any such step."
The king, however, placed him in the house of the rabbi Sar
Shalom, of the Ispahan congregation, who in the course of
time became his father-in-law. This very R. Moses related all
these things unto me.
From thence I returned to the country of Khuzistan, which
lies on the Tigris. This river runs downward and falls into the
Indian Sea (Persian Gulf), in the vicinity of an island called
Kish. The extent of this island is six miles, and the inhabit-
ants do not carry on any agriculture, for they have no rivers, nor
more than one spring in the whole island, and are consequently
obliged to drink rain water. It is, however, a considerable
market, being the spot to which the Indian merchants and
those of the islands bring their commodities. While the traders
of Mesopotamia, Yemen, and Persia import all silk and pur-
ple cloths, flax, cotton, hemp, mash ^^, wheat, barley, millet,
rye, and all other sorts of comestibles and pulse, which articles
form objects of exchange, those from India import great
quantities of spices, and the inhabitants of the island live by
what they gain in their capacity of brokers to both parties.
The island contains about five hundred Jews. It is ten days
* A sort of pea. See Lee's Ibn-Batuta, p. 106.
I
114 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1166.
passage by sea to El-Katif, a city with about five thousand
Israelites. In this vicinity the pearls are found : about the
twenty -fourth of the month of Nisan -^ large drops of rain are
observed upon the surface of the water, which are swallowed
by the reptiles, which thereupon close their shells and fall to
the bottom of the sea; about the middle of the month of
Thishri f people dive with the assistance of ropes, collect these
reptiles from the bottom, and bring them up, after which they
are opened and the pearls taken out.
Seven days from thence is Chulam J, on the confines of the
country of the sun-worshippers, who are descendants of Kush §,
are addicted to astrology, and are all black. This nation is
very trustworthy in matters of trade ; and whenever foreign
merchants enter their port, three secretaries of the king im-
mediately repair on board their vessels, write down their
names, and report them to him. The king thereupon grants
them security for their property, which they may even leave
in the open fields without any guard. One of the king's offi-
cers sits in the market, and receives goods that may have
been found any where, and which he returns to those appli-
cants who can minutely describe them. This custom is ob-
served in the whole empire of the king. From Easter to new
year |j, during the whole of the summer, the heat is extreme.
From the third hour of the day ^ people shut themselves up in
their houses until the evening, at which time every body goes
out. The streets and markets are lighted up, and the in-
habitants employ all the night upon their business, which
they are prevented from doing in the daytime by the ex-
cessive heat.
Pepper grows in this country ; the trees which bear this
fruit are planted in the fields, which surround the towns, and
every one knows his plantation. The trees are small, and
the pepper is originally white, but when they collect it they
put it into basons and pour hot water upon it ; it is then ex-
posed to the heat of the sun, and dried, in order to make it
* In April.
+ In October.
J Chulam, the Koulam of Marco Polo and Ibn-Batuta, was an important
place on the coast of Malabar, but is much reduced in modem times.
§ Negroes.
II i. e. From April to October.
^ Nine o' clock in the morning.
A.D. 1167.] THE SUN-WORSHIPPEES — KHANDY. 115
hard and more substantial, in the course of which process it
becomes of a black colour. Cinnamon, ginger, and many
other kinds of spices also grow in this country. The inhabit-
ants do not bury their dead, but embalm them with certain
spices, put them upon stools, and cover them with cloths,
every family keeping apart. The flesh dries upon the bones ;
and as these corpses resemble living beings, every body re-
cognises his parents and all the members of his family for
many years to come. These people worship the sun ^. About
half a mile from every town they have large places of worship,
and every morning they run towards the rising sun ; every
place of worship contains a representation of that luminary,
so constructed by enchantment that upon the rising of the sun.
it turns round with a great noise, at which moment both men
and women take up their censors and bum incense in honour
of this their deity. "This their way is their folly." f All
the cities and countries inhabited by these people contain only
about one hundred Jews, who are of black colour, as well as
the other inhabitants. The Jews are good men, observers of
the law, and possess the Pentateuch, the prophets, and some
little knowledge of the Talmud and its decisions.
The island of Khandy I is distant twenty two days' journey.
The inhabitants are fire worshippers called Druzes, and
twenty three thousand Jews live among them. These Druzes
* Mr. Asker observes, upon this passage, ^^ Our author states the ancient
inhabitants of Chulam to be fire worshippers. Edrisi, however, (i. 176,) l
says of the king, 'he adores the idol of Boudha,' and Ibn-Batuta reports him
to be ' an infidel.' Although the latter appellation was applied by the Mo-
hammedans to the fire worshippers, we have no sufficient proof to show that
Edrisi's information is wrong, or that the majority of the population adored
the sun as a deity. There is no doubt, however, that Malabar became the
asylum of this ancient sect after it had been vanquished by the Mohammedans,
and had been forced by persecution, not only to seek refuge in the moun-
tainous and less accessible parts of Persia (Kerman and Herat), but to toil
on to distant regions. They found a resting place beyond the Indus, which
they crossed in fear of their unrelenting pursuers ; and here we still find
their descendants, the Parsees, who form 'a numtTous and highly respectable
class of the population.' Yery able papers on the history, religion, and wor-
ship of the Guebres, will be found in vols. i. and iii. of Ouseley's ' Travels/
and in Ritter's ' Erdkunde,' v. 615."
t Psalms, xlix. 14.
t The modern Ceylon. Benjamin appears to call the inhabitants Druzes
because he had been told that, like the Druzes of Syria, they believed in the
metempsychosis. We learn from the Arabian geographer, Edrisi, that there
was a large population of Jews in Ceylon at this time.
I 3
116 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1167
have priests everywhere in the houses consecrated to their
idols, and these priests are expert necromancers, the like of
whom are to be met with nowhere. In front of the altar
of their house of prayer is a deep ditch, in which a large fire
is continually kept burning ; this they call Elahuta, Deity.
They pass their children through it, and into this ditch they
also throw their dead. Some of the great of this country take
a vow to burn themselves alive; and if any such devotee
declares to his children and kindred his intention to do so,
they all applaud him and say, " Happy shalt thou be, and
it shall be well with thee." When the appointed day ar-
rives, they prepare a sumptuous feast, place the devotee upon
his horse, if he be rich, or lead him on foot, if he be poor, to
the brink of the ditch. He then throws himself into the fire,
and all his kindred manifest their joy by the playing of instru-
ments until he is entirely consumed. Within three days of
this ceremony two of the principal priests repair to his house,
and thus address his children: *' Prepare the house, for to-
day you will be visited by your father, who will manifest his
wishes unto you." Witnesses are selected among the inhabit-
ants of the town, and lo ! the devil appears in the image of
the dead. The wife and children inquire after his state in
the other world, and he answers : "I have met my com-
panions, but they will not admit me into their company,
before I have discharged my debts to my friends and neigh-
bours ; " he then makes a will, divides his goods among his
children, and commands them to discharge all debts he owes
and to receive what people owe him ; this will is written down
by the witnesses ... ^' to go his way, and he is not seen any
more. In consequence of this falsehood and deceit, which the
priests pass off by magic, they retain a strong hold upon the
people, and make them believe that their equal is not to be
met with upon earth.
From hence the passage to China f is effected in forty
days. This country lies eastward, and some say that the star
Orion predominates in the sea which bounds it, and which is
called the Sea of Nikpha. Sometimes this sea is so stormy
that no mariner can conduct his vessel ; and whenever a storm
throws a ship into this sea, it is impossible to govern it ; the
* A blank occurs here in the two early editions.
-f Our author is the first European who mentions China by this name*
A.D. 1167.] ARABIA — ETHIOPIA. IIT
crew and the passengers consume their proyisions, and then
die miserably. Many vessels have been lost in this way ;
but people have learned how to save themselves from this
fate by the following contrivance : they take bullocks' hides
along with them, and whenever this storm arises and throws
them into the Sea of Nikpha, they sow themselves up in the
hides, taking care to have a knife in their hand, and being
secured against the sea-water, they throw themselves into the
ocean ; here they are soon perceived by a large eagle called a
griffin, which takes them for cattle, darts down, seizes them
in his gripe, and carries them upon dry land, where he de-
posits his burden on a hill or in a dale, there to consume his
prey. The man, however, now makes use of his knife to kill
the bird, creeps forth from the hide, and tries to reach an
inhabited country. Many people have been saved by this
stratagem.
Gingaleh is but three days distant by land, whereas it re-
quires a journey of fifteen days to reach it by sea; this place
contains about one thousand Israelites. To Khulan, seven
days by sea ; no Jews live there. Twelve days from thence
to Sebid, which contains but few Jews. Eight days from
thence is Middle India*, which is called Aden, and in Scrip-
ture Eden in Thelasarf. This country is very mountainous,
and contains many independent Jews, who are not subject to
the power of the Gentiles, but possess cities and fortresses on
the summits of the mountains, from whence they descend into
the country of Maatum, with which they are at war. Maatum,
also called Nubia, is a Christian kingdom, and the inhabitants
are called Nubians. The Jews generally take spoil and plunder
from them, which they carry into their mountain fastnesses,
the possession of which makes them almost unconquerable.
Many of the Jews of Aden visit Egypt and Persia.
To the country of Assuan twenty days' journey, through the
desert of Sheba, on the banks of the Nile (Pison), which
comes down here from the country of the blacks. This
country is governed by a king, whom they call Sultan-al-
Habash, and some of the inhabitants resemble beasts in every
respect. They eat the herbs which grow on the banks of the
Nile, go naked in the fields, and have no notions like other
men; for instance, they cohabit with their own sisters and
* Literally, continental India. f 2 Kings, xix. 12.
118 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1168.
with any body they find. The country is excessively hot ; and
-when the people of Assuan invade their country, they carry
•wheat, raisins, and figs, which they throw out like bait, thereby
alluring the natives. These are made captive, and sold in
Egypt and in the adjoining countries, where they are known
as black slaves, being the descendants of Ham.
From Assuan to Chaluah it is twelve days. This place
contains about three hundred Jews, and is the starting point
of the caravans which traverse the desert Al-Zahara in fifty
days on their way to Zavila, the Havilah of Scripture ^, which
is in the country of Ganahf. This desert contains moun-
tains of sand ; and, whenever a storm arises, the caravans are
exposed to the imminent danger of being buried alive by the
sand ; those which escape, however, carry iron, copper, dif-
ferent sorts of fruits, pulse, and salt. Gold and precious
stones are brought from thence in exchange. This country
lies westward of Kush, or Abyssinia. Thirteen days' journey
from Chaluah stands Kuts, a city on the frontiers of Egypt,
containing tliirty thousand Jewish inhabitants. To Fayuhm
five days ; this is Pithom | ; it contains about twenty Jews, and
has some remains of the buildings erected by our forefathers
even to this day. Four days from thence brings us to Mizraim,
or Memphis, commonly called Old Cairo. This large city stands
on the banks of the Nile, called Al-Nil, and contains about
two thousand Jews. Here are two synagogues, one of the
congregation of Palestine, called the Syrian, the other of the
Babylonian Jews (or those of Irac). They follow different
customs regarding the division of the Pentateuch into Para-
shioth and Sedarim §. The Babylonians read one Parasha
every week, as is the custom throughout Spain, and finish the
whole of the Pentateuch every year, v^^hereas the Syrians have
* Gen. X. 7 ; 1 Chron. i. 9.
t Chalua or Aloiia, the Ghalua of Edrisi (i. 33), is mentioned by the
Arabian writers as the starting point for the caravans which traversed the
desert of Saharah, and carried on the trade with northern Africa. Zavila,
2uila, Zuela of our maps, Zavila of Edrisi (i. 258-9), was remarkable for
the splendour of its bazaars and buildings, as well as for its beautiful streets
and thoroughfares. From Zuila the caravans proceeded almost due south to
Ganah, in the interior of Africa.
t Exod. i. 11.
§ The Pentateuch is divided into fifty-four Parashioth, of seven portions
each ; and the custom of the Babylonians, as described in the text, is prac-
tised at present almost universally.
A.D. 1168.] EGYPT. 119
the custom of dividing every Parasha into three Sedarim, and
concluding the lecture of the whole once in three years.
They keep, however, the long-estahlished custom of assembling
l)oth congregations to perform public service together, as well
on the day of the joy of the law as on that of the dispensation
of the law*. Eabbi Nathaniel, the lord of lords, is the pre-
sident of the Jewish university, and, in his capacity of primate
of all the Jewish congregations of Egypt, exercises the right
of electing Rabanim and ministers. He is one of the officers
of the great king, who resides in the fortress of Zoan in the
city of Mizraim, which is the metropolis of all those Ara-
bians who obey the Emir-al-Mumenin f of the sect of All
ben Abitaleb. All the inhabitants of his country are called
rebels, because they rebelled against the Emir-al-Mumenin
al-Abassi who resides at Bagdad, and there is continual hatred
between them.
The residence of Zoan was selected for its convenience.
The prince appears in public twice every year ; once at the
time of their great holiday, end the second time at the moment
of the inundation of the Nile. Zoan is inclosed by a wall,
whereas Mizraim is open, and the Nile washes one portion
of it. The city is large, containing many markets and bazaars,
and very wealthy Jewish inhabitants.
Eain, frost, and snow are almost unknown here, the climate
being very warm. The river overflows once every year, in
the month of Elulj, and, inundating the whole country, irri-
gates it to the extent of fifteen days' journey. The water
remains standing on the land during that and the following
month, whereby it is moistened and made fit for agriculture.
A marble pillar, constructed with great skill, has been erected
in front of an island; twelve yards of this pillar protrude
above the level of the river ; and whenever the water rises to
a height sufficient to cover the pillar, people know that it has
inundated the whole land of Egypt to the extent of fifteen
* The former is celebrated on the last day of the feast of tabernacles,
(Deut. xvi. 13 — 15,) the latter with the feast of weeks (ibid. 9).
t Benjamin of Tudela does not mention the name of the Fatimite khalif
of Egypt who reigned at the time of his visit ; but as that dynasty was
overthrown in 1171, and as the authority of the last khalif of that family
had previously been annihilated by the conquests of the armies of Noureddin,
to which Benjamin makes no allusion, it is probable that his visit to Egypt
may be placed as early as 1168 or 1169.
J August.
120 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a D, 1168.
days' journey, whereas if one-lialf only of the pillar be covered,
it shows that one-half of the country is yet dry. A certain
officer measures the rise of the river every day, and makes
proclamation in Zoan and in Mizraim in these words :
*' Praise God, for the river has risen so and so much ! " The
measurement and the proclamation is repeated every day.
Whenever the water submerges the whole pillar, it produces
great plenty in the whole land of Egypt. The river rises by
degrees until the whole country is inundated to the extent of
fifteen days' journey. The proprietors of land cause ditches
to be dug along their fields, into which the fishes are swept
with the rising waters; and when the river retires into its
bed, the fish remaining in the trenches are collected by the
proprietors and used for food. Others sell them to merchants,
by whom they are cured, and sold in this state all over the
country. The fat of these fishes, with which they abound, is
used by the rich of the land instead of oil, and they light their
lamps therewith. Those who eat of the fish, and drink Nile
water after it, need not fear any bad consequences, the w^ater
being an excellent preventive. Persons who inquire the
reason of the rise of the Nile are told by the Egyptians that
it is caused by the heavy rains which fall in the country of
Abyssinia, the Havilah of Scripture, which is elevated above
the level of Egypt. This forces the river out of its bed, and
inundates the whole country. Whenever the overflowing of
the Nile is suspended, they can neither sow nor reap, " and
the famine is sore in the land." ^-5^ The time for sowing in
Egypt is the month of Marcheshvan f , after the river has
retired into its usual bed; in Adar| they cut barley, and in
Nissan § the wheat. In the same month the following fruits
are ripe : a kind of acid plum called cherry, nuts, cucumbers,
gourds, St. John's bread ||, beans, spelt-corn, chick-pease, as
well as all sorts of herbs, such as purslam, asparagus (or
fennel), grapes, lettuce, coriander, succory, cabbage, and wine.
Upon the whole the countiy abounds with good things. The
gardens and orchards are watered partly from wells and partly
from the Nile.
* A phrase taken from Gen. xliii. 1.
+ November. t March. § April.
II *' Carob-Siliqua in Latin ; Caroube, or Carouge, French. This transla-
tion is traditional among Jews, and it has been employed, althongh Abdol-
latif does not mention this fruit as one indigenous in Egypt." — Asher.
A.D. 11.68.] TOWNS ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE. 121
Above Mizraim the Nile is divided into four arms, one of
which proceeds to Damietta, which is Caphtor of Scripture,
and there falls into the sea ; a second flows towards Rashid
(or Rosetta), which is near Alexandria, and there falls into the
sea ; the third takes the direction of Ashmun, the large city
on the frontier of Egypt. The banks of these four arms are
lined on both sides with cities, towns, and villages ; and are
enlivened by numerous travellers who journey both by river
and by land. In fact, upon the whole earth there is no country
so populous and well cultivated as Egypt, which is of ample
territory and full of all sorts of good things.
From New to Old Mizraim is a distance of two parasangs.
The latter lies in ruins, but the sites of the walls and the
houses may still be traced at this day, as also the granaries of
Joseph, of which there is a large number. The pyramids,
which are seen here, are constructed by magic ; and in no other
country or other place is any thing equal to them. They are
composed of stones and cement, and are very substantial. In
the outskirts of the city is the very ancient synagogue of our
great master Moses, upon whom be peace. An old and very
learned man is the overseer and clerk of this place of public
worship ; he is called Al- Sheikh Abunasar. Old Mizraim is
three miles in extent. From thence to the land of Goshen,
eight parasangs. It is called Belbeis, is a large city, and
contains about three thousand Jewish inhabitants. Half a
day to Iskiil Ain-al-Shems, the ancient Raamses, which is in
ruins. Here are remains of the buildings erected by our fore-
fathers, and tower-like buildings constructed of bricks. One
day's journey to Al-Boutidg ; about two hundred Jews live
here. Half a day to Sefita, which contains about two hundred
Jews. To Damira, four parasangs ; this place contains about
seven hundred Jews. Five days to Mahaleh, which contains
about five hundred Israelites*. Two days from thence stands
Alexandria, which Alexander the Macedonian, who built this
extremely strong and handsome city, called after his own
name. In the outskirts of the city was the school of Aristotle,
the preceptor of Alexander. The building is still very hand-
some and large, and is divided into many apartments by marble
pillars. There are about twenty schools, to which people
* It may be observed that Benjamin's object appears to have been only to
mention those towns in Egypt which contained Jews, and he follows no
direct course.
1^^ BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1168.
flocked from all parts of the world in order to study the
Aristotelian philosophy. The city is built upon arches, which
are hollow below. The streets are straight, and some of them
are of such extent that the eye cannot overlook them at once ;
that which runs from the Rosetta to the sea-gate is a full mile
in length. The port of Alexandria is formed partly by a pier,
which extends a mile into the sea. Here is also a high tower,
called lighthouse, in Arabic, Minar of Alexandria, on the
summit of which was placed a glass mirror. All vessels
which approached with hostile intentions, from Greece and
from the western side, could be observed at fifty days' distance
by means of this glass mirror, and precautions were taken
against them. Many years after the death of Alexander
there arrived a Grecian vessel commanded by a man of the
name of Theodores, who was extremely cunning. The
Grecians were subject to the Egyptians at the time, and the
above-named shipper brought a valuable present to the king
of Egypt, consisting of silver, gold, and silk garments. He
rode at anchor in view of the mirror, the customary station of
all merchantmen who arrived, and the keeper of the light-
house, as well as his servants, were invited every day by him,
until they became very intimate and paid one another frequent
visits. Upon a certain day the keeper and all his servants
were invited to a sumptuous meal, and were plied so much
with wine that both he and his servants became drunk and
fell into a sound sleep. This opportunity was seized by the
shipper and his crew to break the mirror, after which exploit
they left the port the same night. From that time the
Christians began to visit Alexandria with small and large
vessels, and took the large island of Crete, as well as Cyprus,
which are in possession of the Greeks unto this day ; and the
Egyptians have not been able to withstand the Greeks ever
since *. The lighthouse is still a mark to all seafaring men.
It is observed at the distance of one hundred miles by day,
and at night bears a light which serves as a guide to all
mariners.
The city is very mercantile, and affords an excellent market
* This story is one version of a popular tradition wliich is mentioned by
the Arabian writers ; and a story similar to it, though not applied to the
Pharos of Alexandria, is found among the collections current in the west of
Europe daring the middle ages, but no doubt brought from the east. See
the old English poem of the Seven Sages.
A.D. 1168.] ALEXANDKIA MOUNT SINAI. 123
to all nations. People from all Christian kingdoms resort
to Alexandria, from Valentia, Tuscany, Lombardy, Apulia,
Amalfi, Sicilia, Rakuvia, Catalonia, Spain, Eoussillon, Ger-
many, Saxony, Denmark, England, Flandres, Hainault, Nor-
mandy, France, Poitou, Anjou, Burgundy, Mediana, Provence,
Genoa, Pisa, Gascony, Arragon, and Navarre. From the west
you meet Mohammedans from Andalusia, Algarve, Africa, and
Arabia, as well as from the countries towards India, Savila,
Abyssinia, Nubia, Yemen, Mesopotamia, and Syria, besides
Greeks and Turks*. From India they import all sorts of
spices, which are bought by Christian merchants. The city
is full of bustle, and every nation has its own fonteccho (or
hostelry) there.
On the sea- shore is a marble sepulchre, upon which are
depicted all sorts of birds and beasts, all in very ancient
characters, which nobody can decipher ; but it is supposed
that it is the tomb of a king of very ancient date, who reigned
even before the flood. The length of the tomb is fifteen spans
by six in breadth.
Alexandria contains about three thousand Jews.
From hence we reach Damietta, which is Caphtorf, in two
days; this place contains about two hundred Jews. Half a
day from thence to Sunbat, the inhabitants of which sow flax
and weave fine linen, which forms a very considerable article
of exportation. Four days to Ailah, which is Elim of Scrip-
ture ; it belongs to the Bedouin Arabs. Two days to Re-
phidim, which is inhabited by Arabians, and contains no Jews.
One day to Mount Sinai, on the summit of which the Syrian
monks possess a place of worship. At the base of the moun-
tain is a large village ; the inhabitants, who speak the Chaldean
language, call it Tour Sinai. The mountain is small, is in
possession of the Egyptians, and is distant five days from
Mizraim. The Red Sea is one day's journey from Mount
Sinai ; this sea is an arm of the Indian Sea.
Back to Damietta, from whence by sea to Tennis, the
Chanes of Scripture, an island of the sea, containing about
* Mr. A slier has first given a clear and intelligible translation of the
names of the different countries who traded to Alexandria ; and he observes
that, in drawing it up, Benjamin probably follows some list of the fontecchi,
or hostelries of the merchants of different nations, made for the use of captains
arriving there.
i* This appears to be an error of our traveller.
124 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [a.D. 1169,
forty Israelites ; here is the boundary of the empire of Egypt.
From thence we go, in twenty days, by sea to Messina,
on the coast of the island of Sicily, situated on the strait
called Lunir, an arm of the sea which divides Calabria from
Sicily. This city contains about two hundred Jews, and is
beautifully situated in a country abounding with gardens and
orchards, and full of good things. Most of the pilgrims who
embark for Jerusalem assemble here, because this city affords
the best opportunity for a good passage.
Two days from thence stands Palermo, a large city, two
square miles in extent. It contains the extensive palace
of king William ^s and is inhabited by about fifteen hundred
Jews and many Christians and Mohammedans. The country
is rich in wells and springs, grows wheat and barley, and is
covered with gardens and orchards ; it is, in fact, the best in
the whole island of Sicily. This city is the seat of the vice-
roy, whose palace is called Al-Hacina, and contains all sorts of
fruit trees, as also a great spring, surrounded by a wall, and a
reservoir called Al-Behira, in which abundance of fish are
preserved. The Idng's vessels are ornamented mth silver
and gold, and are ever ready for the amusement of himself and
his women. There is also a large palace, the walls of which
are richly ornamented with paintings and with gold and silver.
The pavement is of marble and rich mosaic, representing all
sorts of figures; in the whole country there is no building
equal to this.
The island begins at Messina, where many pilgrims meet,
and extends to Catania, Syracuse, Masara, Pantaleone, and
Trapani, being six days in circumference. Near Trapani is
found the stone called coral, in Arabic, al-murganf. From
* William II. king of Sicily, who reigned from 1166 to 1189. On his
accession he was only twelve years of age ; and during his minority Stephen,
archbishop of Palermo, governed Sicily as chancellor under the queen
dowager. It is to him that Benjamin alludes under the title of viceroy; in
1169 the viceroy was driven from Sicily by a revolt of the inhabitants of
Palermo, and it was therefore probably early in that year that Benjamin was
in the island.
+ Coral (Arabic, bessed ; Persian, merjan). The Sicilian coral is mentioned
by several old writers. The produce of the fishery at Messina is stated by
Spallanzani (" Travels in the Two Sicilies," vol. iv. p. 308, &c.) to amount to
twelve quintals of 250 lbs. each. Edrisi mentions the fishery of this produc-
tion to have been carried on by the Sicilians, and states that it was inferior
to the species found on the African coast.
A.D. 1169-1173.] GERMANY. 126
thence you cross over and reach Home m three days ; from
Rome by land in five days to Lucca, from whence you get in
twelve days to Bardin, by Mount Maurienne, and over the
passes of Italy.
Here are the confines of Germany, a country full of hills
and mountains. The Jewish congregations of Germany
inhabit the banks of the great river Rhine, from Cologne,
where the empire commences, unto Cassanburg, the frontier
of Germany, which is fifteen days' journey, and is called
Ashkenas by the Jews. These are the cities of Germany
which contain congregations of Israelites, all situated on the
river Moselle — Coblence, Andernach, Kaub, Kartania, Bingen,
Worms, and Mistran. In fact, the Jews are dispersed over
all countries, and whoever hinders Israel from being collected,
shall never see any good sign, and shall not live with Israel.
And at the time which the Lord has appointed to be a limit
of our captivity and to exalt the horn of his anointed, every-
one shall come forth and shall say, " I will lead the Jews
and I will assemble them."
These cities contain many eminent scholars; the congre-
gations are on the best terms with one another, and are
friendly towards strangers. Whenever a traveller visits them
they are rejoiced thereat and hospitably receive him. They
are full of hopes, and say — " Be of good spirit, dear brethren,
for the salvation of the Lord will be quick, like. the t^^^Lnkling
of an eye; and, indeed, were it not that we had doubted
hitherto that the end of our captivity had not yet arrived, we
should have assembled long ago ; but this is impossible before
the time of song arrive, and the sound of the cooing turtle
gives warning*; then will the message arrive, and we will
say, The name of the Lord be exalted !"t They send letters
to one another, by which they exhort to hold firm in the
Mosaic law. Those that spend their time as mourners of the
downfall of Sion and the destruction of Jerusalem, are always
dressed in black clothes, and pray for mercy before the Lord,
for the sake of their brethren.
Beside the cities which we have already mentioned as being
in Germany, there are, further, Astransburg, Duidisburg,
Mantern, Pisingas, Bamberg, Zor, and Regensburg, on the
confines of the empire ; all these cities contain many rich and
* Solom. Song, ii. 12, -f Psalms, xxxv. 27.
126 BENJAMIN OF TUDELA. [A.D. 1173
learned Jews. Further on is the country of Bohemia, called
Prague. Here begins Sclavonia, called by the Jews who
inhabit it Khenaan, because the inhabitants sell their children
to all nations, which is also applicable to the people of Russia.
The latter country is very extensive, reaching from the gates
of Prague to those of Kiev, a large city on the confines of the
empire. The country is very mountainous and full of forests ;
in the latter the beasts called vaiverges -^ are met, which yield
the sable fur or ermine. In winter the cold is so intense that
nobody ventures to leave his house. So far the kingdom of
Hussia.
The kingdom of France, called by the Jews Tsarphat,
reaches from the town of Alsodo to Paris, the metropolis, and
is six days in extent. This city, situated on the river Seine,
belongs to king Louis f, and contains many learned men, the
equal of which are to be met with at present nowhere upon
earth : they employ all their time upon the study of the law,
are hospitable to all travellers, and on friendly terms with
all their Jewish brethren.
May the Lord in his mercy be full of compassion towards
them and us, and may he fulfil towards both the words of his
Holy Scripture (Deut. xxx. 8), " Then the Lord thy God
will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and
will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the
Lord thy God hath scattered thee." — Amen, Amen, Amen.
* Vaiverges, Polish wiewiorka, the white squirrel, a quadruped, the skins
of which were considered to be of great value.
i* Louis le Jeune, who reigned from 1137 to 1185.
127
THE BOOK OF SIR JOHN MAUNDEYILLE.
A.D. 1322—1356.
THE PROLOGUE.
Forasmuch as the land beyond the sea, that is to say, the
Holy Land, which men call the land of promise or of behest,
passing all other lands, is the most worthy land, most excel-
lent, and lady and sovereign of all other lands, and is blessed
and hallowed with the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ ; in the which land it pleased him to take flesh and
blood of the Virgin Mary, to environ that holy land with his
blessed feet ; and there he would of his blessedness shadow
him in the said blessed and glorious Virgin Mary, and become
man, and work many miracles, and preach and teach the faith
and the law of Christian men unto his children ; and there
it pleased him to suffer many reprovings and scorns for us ;
and he that was king of heaven, of air, of earth, of sea, and
of all things that are contained in them, would only be called
king of that land, when he said, " Rex sum Judeorum," that is
to say, I am king of the Jews ; and that land he chose before
all other lands, as the best and most worthy land, and the most
virtuous land of all the world ; for it is the heart and the
middle of all the world ; by witness of the philosopher, who
saith thus " Virtus rerum in medio consistit :" that is to say.
The virtue of things is in the middle ; and in that land he
would lead his life, and suffer passion and death from the
Jews for us, to redeem and deliver us from the pains of
hell and from death without end, which was ordained for ns
for the sin of our first father Adam, and for our own sins also ;
for, as for himself, he had deserved no evil : for he thought
never evil nor did evil, and he that was king of glory and
of joy might best in that place suffer death, because he
chose in that land, rather than in any other, to suffer his
passion and his death : for he that will publish any thing to
make it openly known, he will cause it to be cried and pro-
claimed in the middle place of a town ; so that the thing that
is proclaimed and pronounced may equally reach to all parts :
right so, he that was creator of all the world would suffer for
us at Jerusalem, that is the middle of the world, to the end and
intent that his passion and his death, which was published
128 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322.
there, miglit be known equally to all parts of the world. See,
now, how dearly he bought man, that he made after his own
image, and how dearly he redeemed us for the great love that
he had to us, and we never deserved it of him. For more
precious goods or greater ransom might he not put for us,
than his blessed body, his precious blood, and his holy life,
which he enthralled for us ; and he offered all for us, that never
did sin. Oh ! dear God ! what love had he to us his subjects,
when he that never trespassed would for trespassers suffer
death ! Right well ought we to love and worship, to dread
and serve such a Lord, and to worship and praise such a holy
land, that brought forth such fruit, through which every man
is saved, unless it be his own fault. Well may that land be
called delectable and a fruitful land, that was made moist
with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ ; which is
the same land that our Lord promised us in heritage. And
in that land he would die, as seised ^ to leave it to us, his
children. Wherefore every good Christian man, that is of
power, and hath whereof, should labour with all his strength
to conquer our right heritage, and drive out all the unbe-
lieving men. For we are called Christian men, after Christ
our father. And if we be right children of Christ, we ought
to claim the heritage that our father left us, and take it out
of heathen men's hands. But now pride, covetousness, and
envy have so inflamed the hearts of w^orldly lords, that they
are busier to disinherit their neighbours than to claim or
conquer their right heritage aforesaid. And the common
people, that would put their bodies and their goods to con-
quer our heritage, may not do it without the lords. For an
assembly of people without a chieftain, or a chief lord, is as
a flock of sheep without a shepherd ; the which departeth and
disperseth, and know never whither to go. But would God, that
the temporal lords and all worldly lords were at good accord,
and with the common people would take this holy voyage over
the sea! Then I believe confidently, that, within a little time,
our right heritage aforesaid should be recovered and put in
the hands of the right heirs of Jesus Christ.
And forasmuch as it is long time past that there w^as no
general passage or voyage over the sea, and many men de-
siring to hear speak of the Holy Land, and have thereof great
* An allusion to the legal forms of conveying and bequeathing property in
the middle ages.
A.D. 1322.] THE PEOLOGUE. 129
solace and comfort, I, John Maundeville, knight, albeit I be
not worthy, who was born in England, in the town of Saint
Albans, passed the sea in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ
1322, on the day of St. Michael; and hitherto have been
a long time over the sea, and have seen and gone through
many divers lands, and many provinces, and kingdoms, and
isles, and have passed through Tartary, Persia, Ermony,
(xirmenia) the Little and the Great ; through Lybia, Chaldea,
and a great part of Ethiopia ; through x\mazonia, India the
Less, and the Greater, a great part ; and throughout many other
isles that are about India ; where dwell many divers folks,
and of divers manners and laws, and of divers shapes of men.
Of which lands and isles I shall speak more plainly hereafter.
And I shall devise you some part of things that are there,
when time shall be as it may best come to my mind ; and
especially for them that will and are in purpose to visit the
holy city of Jerusalem, and the holy places that are thereabout.
And I shall tell the way that they shall hold thither ; for I
have oftimes passed and ridden the way, with good company
of many lords : God be thanked !
And ye shall understand that I have put this book out of
Latin into French, and translated it again out of French into
English, that every man of my nation may understand it;
and that lords and knights and other noble and worthy men
that know Latin but little, and have been beyond the sea, may
know and understand, if I err from defect of memory, and
may redress it and amend it. For things passed out of long
time from a man's mind or from his sight turn soon into for-
getting : because a man's mind may not be comprehended or
withheld, on account of the frailty of mankind.
Chaptek. I.
TO TEACH YOU THE WAY OUT OP ENGLAND TO CONSTANTINOPLE.
In the name of God, glorious and Almighty. He that will pass
over the sea to go to the city of Jerusalem may go many ways,
both by sea and land, according to the country that he cometh
from : many ways come to one end. But you must not ex-
pect that I will tell you all the towns, and cities, and castles,
that men shall go by ; for then should I make too long a tale :
but only soine countries and the principal places that men
shall go through to go the right way. First, if a man come
K
130 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE, [a.D. 1322.
from the west side of the world, as England, Ireland, Wales,
Scotland, or Norway, he may, if he will, go through Almaine
(Germany) and through the kingdom of Hungary, which borders
on the land of Polaine (Poland), and to the land of Pannonia,
and so to Silesia. And the king of Hungary is a great and
mighty lord, and possesses great lordships and much land.
For he holds the kingdom of Hungary, Sclavonia, and a great
part of Comania and Bulgaria, which men call the land of
Bougres, and the realm of Russia a great part, whereof he
hath made a duchy, that extendeth unto the land of Nyflan,
and borders on Prussia. And we go through the land of
this lord, through a city that is called Cypron, and by the
castle of Neaseborough, and by the evil town, which is situated
towards the end of Hungary. And there men pass the river
Danube, which is a very great river, and it goeth into
Almaine, under the hills of Lombardy ; and it receives forty
other rivers, and runs through Hungary and through Greece
and through Thrace, and entereth into the sea, towards the
east, so roughly and so sharply, that the water of the sea is
fresh and keeps its sweetness twenty miles from shore.
And after, men go to Belgrave, and enter the land of Bou-
gres ; and there men pass a bridge of stone, which is upon the
river Marrok. And men pass through the land of Pynce-
martz, and come to Greece to the city of Nye, and to the city
of Fynepape, and after to the city of Adrianople, and then to
Constantinople, which was formerly called Byzantium, where
the emperor of Greece usually dwells. And there is the
fairest and noblest church in the world, that of St. Sophia.
And before the church is the image of the emperor Justinian,
covered with gold, and he sits crowned upon a horse ; and he
formerly held a round apple of gold in his hand, but it is
fallen down ; and they say there, that it is a token that the
emperor hath lost a great part of his lands and lordships.
For he was emperor of Romania and of Greece, of all Asia
the Less, and of the land of Syria, of the land of Judea, in
which is Jerusalem, and of the land of Egypt, of Persia, and
of Arabia ; but he hath lost all but Greece ; and men would
many times restore the apple to the hand of the image, but
it will not hold it. This apple betokens the lordship which he
had over all the world, which is round ; and the other hand he
lifts up towards the east, in token to menace the misdoers.
This image stands upon a pillar of marble at Constantinople.
A.D. 1322.] THE THUE CROSS. 131
Chapter II.
OF THE CROSS AND CROWN OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
At Constantinople is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
his coat without seams, and the sponge and the reed with
which the Jews gave our Lord vinegar and gall on the cross ;
and there is one of the nails with which Christ was nailed on
the cross. And some men helieve that half the cross of our
Lord is in Cyprus, in an abbey of monks called the Hill of
the Holy Cross. But it is not so ; for the cross which is in
Cyprus is that on which Dismas-^, the good thief, was crucified.
But all men know not that, and it is an evil act ; because, for
profit of the offering, they say that it is the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And you shall understand that the cross of
our Lord was made of four kinds of trees, as is contained in
this verse —
" In cruce fit palma, cedms, cypressus, oliva."
For the piece that went upright from the earth to the head
was of cypress ; and the piece that went across, to which his
hands were nailed, was of palm ; and the stock, that stood
within the earth, in which was made the mortise, was of
cedar ; and the tablet above his head, which was a foot and a
half long, on which the title was written in Hebrew, Greek,
and Latin, was of olive. And the Jews made the cross of
these four kinds of trees, because they believed that our Lord
Jesus Christ should have hanged on the cross as long as the
cross might last ; and therefore they made the foot of the
cross of cedar, because cedar may not rot in earth or water ;
and they thought that it should have lasted long. And be-
cause they believed that the body of Christ should have stunk,
therefore they made the piece that went from the earth up-
wards of cypress, for it is well smelling, so that the smell of
his body should not grieve men that passed by. And the cross
piece was of palm, because in the Old Testament it was
ordained that when any one conquered, he should be crowned
with palm ; and because they believed that they had the vic-
tory of Christ Jesus, therefore made they the cross-piece of
* Dismas and Jestes, or Jesmas, were, according to the vulgar legend, the
names of the two thieves who were crucified at the same time with the
Saviour, Dismas being the one who reproved his companion for his unbelief.
Maundeville has introduced more of the popular superstitious and religious
legends of the middle ages than the previous travellers.
K 2
132 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322.
palm. And the tablet of the title they made of olive, because
olive betokens peace ; and the story of Noah witnesseth that
when the dove brought the branch of olive, it betokened
peace made between God and man ; and so the Jews expected
to have peace when Christ was dead ; for they said that he
made discord and strife amongst them. And you shall under-
stand that our Lord was nailed on the cross in a recum-
bent position, and therefore he suffered the more pain. And
the Christians that dwell beyond the sea, in Greece, say that
the tree of the cross that we call cypress was of that tree
of which Adam ate the apple, and that they find written.
And they say also, that their Scripture saith-''' that Adam was
sick, and told his son Seth to go to the angel that kept Para-
dise, to pray that he would send him oil of mercy to anoint
his members with, that he might have health. And Seth
went, but the angel would not let him come in, telling him
that he might not have of the oil of mercy ; but he gave him
three grains of the same tree of which his father ate the
apple, and bade him, as soon as his father was dead, that he
should put these three grains under his tongue, and bury him
so: and he did. And of these three grains sprung a tree, as
the angel said that it should, and bore a fruit, through which
fruit Adam should be saved. And when Seth came again,
he found his father near dead. And when he was dead, he
did with the grains as the angel bade him ; of which sprung
three trees, whereof the cross was made, that bare good fruit
and blessed, namely, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom
Adam, and all that come of him, should be saved and de-
livered from dread of death without end, unless it be by their
own fault. The Jews had concealed this holy cross in the
earth, under a rock of Mount Calvary ; and it lay there two
hundred years and more, till the time of St. Helena, the
mother of Constantino, emperor of Eome. She was the
daughter of king Coel, born in Colchester, who was king of
England, which was then called Britain the Greater; the
emperor Cons tan tins took her to wife for her beauty, and had
by her Constantino, who was afterwards emperor of Rome.
And you shall understand that the cross of our Lord was
eight cubits long, and the cross-piece was three cubits and a
* See, on this popular legend, the editor's note on the " Chester Plays " (or
Mysteries), vol. i. p. 239. It was derived from one of the apocryphal books
of the eastern church.
A.D. 1322.] THE CROWN OF THORNS. 133
half in length. And one part of the crown of our Lord,
wherewith he was crowned, and one of the nails, and the
spear-head, and many other relics, are in France, in the
king's chapel*, the crown being placed in a vessel of crystal
richly worked. For a king of France bought these relics
of the Jews, to whom the emperor had given them in pledge
for a great sum of silver. And if it be so, as men say, that
this crown is of thorns, you shall understand that it was of
rushes of the sea, which prick as sharply as thorns ; for I
have seen and beheld many times that of Paris and that
of Constantinople ; for they were both one, made of rushes
of the sea. But men had divided them in two parts ;
of which one part is at Paris, and the other part is at Con-
stantinople. And I have one of these precious thorns, which
seems like a white thorn ; and it was given to me as a great
favour ; for there are many of them broken and fallen into
the vessel that the crown lieth in ; they break for dryness,
when men move it, to show it to great lords that come thither.
And you shall understand that our Lord Jesus, on the
night he was taken, was led into a garden, where he was first
examined very sharply ; and there the Jews scorned him, and
made him a crown of the branches of aubespine, or white
thorn, which grew in the same garden, and set it on his head,
so fast and so sore, that the blood ran down on many parts
of his face, neck, and shoulders. And therefore hath white
thorn many virtues ; for he that beareth a branch thereof
upon him, no thunder nor tempest may hurt him ; and no
evil spirit may enter in the house in which it is, or come to
the place that it is in. And in that same garden St. Peter
denied our Lord thrice. Afterward our Lord was led forth
before the bishops and the masters of the law, into another
garden belonging to Annas ; and there also he was examined,
reproved, and scorned, and crowned again with a white thorn,
which is called barbarines, which grew in that garden, and
which hath also many virtues. And afterward he was led
into a garden of Caiphas, and there he was crowned with
eglantine. And after he was led into the chamber of Pilate,
and there he was examined and crowned. And the Jews
set him in a chair, and clad him in a mantle ; and there they
made the crown of rushes of the sea; and there they knelt
* The beautiful chapel built by St Louis, and now known as the Saiiite
Ghapelle.
134 SIR JOHN MAUx\DEVILLE. [A.D. 1322.
to him, and scorned him, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews !"
Half of this crown is at Paris, and the other half at Con-
stantinople. And Christ had this crown on his head when
he was placed on the cross ; and therefore ought men to wor-
ship it, and hold it more worthy than any of the others. And
the emperor of Almaine possesses the spear- shaft, but the head
of the spear is at Paris. Yet the emperor of Constantinople
saith that he hath the spear-head, and I have often seen it ;
but it is greater than that at Paris.
Chapter III.
OP THE CITY OP CONSTANTINOPLE, AND OP THE FAITH OP THE GREEKS.
At Constantinople lieth St. Anne, our Lady's mother, whom
St. Helena caused to be brought from Jerusalem. And there
lieth also the body of John Chrysostom, who was archbishop
of Constantinople. There lieth also St. Luke the Evangelist,
whose bones were brought from Bethany, where he w^as
buried. And many other relics are there. And there is the
vessel of stone, as it were of marble, which men call Enydros,
and which continually drops w^ater, and fills itself every year,
till it run over, besides what men take from within. Constan-
tinople is a very fair and good city, and well walled, and it is
three-cornered. There is an arm of the sea of Hellespont,
which some men call the mouth of Constantinople, and some
men call it the Brace (or arm) of St. George ; and that arm
incloses two parts of the city. And upward to the sea, upon
the w^ater, was wont to be the great city of Troy, in a very
fair plain ; but that city was destroyed by the people of Greece,
and little thereof now appears, because it is so long since it
was destroyed.
About Greece there are many isles, as Calliste, Calcas,
Cetige, Tesbria, Mynea, Flaxon, Melo, Carpate, and Lemne.
In this latter isle is Mount Athos, that passeth the clouds.
And there are divers languages and many countries obedient
to the emperor, namely, Turcople, Pyneynard, Cornagne, and
many others, as Thrace and Macedonia, of which Alexander
was king. In this country was Aristotle born, in a city called
Stagyra, a little from the city of Thrace. And at Stagyra
Aristotle lieth ; and there is an altar upon his tomb. And
they make great feasts for him ever year, as though he were
a saint. And at his altar they hold their great councils and
A.D. 1322.] CONSTANTINOPLE. 135
their assemblies, expecting that through inspiration of God
and of him they shall have the better council. In this coun-
try are very high hills, toward the extremity of Macedonia.
And there is a great hill, called Olympus, which divides Ma-
cedonia and Thrace, so high that it passeth the clouds. And
there is another hill, called Athos, so high that the shadow of
it reaches to Lemne^-^, which is an island seventy-six miles
distant. At the summit of this hill the air is so clear, that
no wind is found there, and therefore no animal may live
there ; and the air is dry. And men say in those countries,
that philosophers once went upon those hills, and held to
their nose a sponge moistened with water, to have air, because
the air above was so dry ; and at the summit, in the dust of
those hills, they wrote letters and figures with their fingers,
and at the year's end they came again, and found the same
letters and figures which they had written the year before,
without any change. And therefore it appears evident that
these hills pass the clouds and join to the pure air.
At Constantinople is the palace of the emperor, very hand-
some and well built ; and therein is a fair place for joustings,
or for other plays and sports. And it is made with stages,
and hath steps about, that every man may see well, and not
intercept the view of those behind. And under these stages
are stables well vaulted for the emperor's horses ; and all the
pillars are of marble. And within the church of St. Sophia,
an emperor once would have buried the body of his father
when he was dead ; and, as they made the grave, they found
a body in the earth, and upon the body lay a fine plate of
gold, on which was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin,
letters that said thus, " Jesus Christ shall be born of the
Virgin Mary, and I believe in him." And the date when it
wa» laid in the earth was tw^o thousand years before our Lord
was born. The plate of gold is still preserved in the treasury of
the church. And they say that it was Hermogenes, the wise man.
Although the men of Greece are Christians, yet they vary
from our faith ; for they say that the Holy Ghost may not
come of the Son, but only of the Father. And they are not
obedient to the Church of Rome, nor to the pope ; for they
say that their patriarch hath as much power over the sea as
the pope hath on this side the sea. And therefore pope
* There is an old Greek iambic to this effect : — " "a6uo$ xaAt/TTE/ 'prXivooi
136 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVTLLE. [A.D. 1322.
John XXII. sent letters to them, how Christian faith should
be all one, and that they should be obedient to the pope, who
is God's vicar on earth, to whom God gave his full power to
bind and to assoil, and therefore they should be obedient to
him. But they sent back divers answers, amongst others
saying thus: " We believe well that thy power is great upon
thy subjects. We may not suffer thy great pride. We are
not in purpose to fulfil thy great covetousness. The Lord
be with thee; for our Lord is with us. — Farewell." And no
other answer might he have of them. They make their sacra-
ment of the altar of unleavened bread, because our Lord
made it of such bread when he made his Maundy-!^. And on
Shere-Thursday they make their unleavened bread, in token
of the Maundy, and dry it in the sun, and keep it all the
year, and give it to sick men instead of God s body. And they
make but one unction when they christen children. They
anoint not the sick. And they say that there is no purga-
tory, and that the souls shall have neither joy nor pain till
the day of doom. They say, moreover, that fornication is not
a deadly sin, but a thing that is according to nature ; and that
men and women should wed but once ; and whosoever weddeth
oftener than once, their children are bastards, and begotten
in sin. Their priests also are wedded. They say, also, that
usury is no deadly sin; and they sell benefices of holy
church ; and so do men in other places, (God amend it when
his will is !) and that is a great scandal ; for now is simony
king crowned in holy church: God amend it for his mercy!
And they say that in Lent men shall not fast, or sing mass,
except on the Saturday and on the Sunday. And they fast
not on the Saturdays, except it be Christmas Eve, or Easter
Eve. They suffer not the Latins to sing at their altars ; and
if they do by any chance, they immediately wash the altar
with holy water. And they say, that there should be but one
mass said at one altar upon one day. They say also that our
Lord never ate, but that he made sign of eating. They
say, moreover, that we sin deadly in shaving our beards ; for
the beard is token of a man, and the gift of our Lord. And
they say that we sin deadly in eating of animals that were
* Maundy-Thursday is the day of Christ's commandment on instituting
the Lord's Supper, the Thursday before Easter. It was a\so called Shere-
Thursday. The ceremony observed on the day was called holding or making
the Maundy.
A.D. 1322.] CONSTANTINOPLE TO JERUSALEM. 137
forbiddeD in the Old Testament and by the old law, as swme,
hares, and other beasts that chew not their cud. And they
say that we sin in eating flesh on the days before Ash Wed-
nesday, and in eating flesh on the Wednesday, and eggs and
cheese on the Fridays. And they curse all those who abstain
from eating flesh on the Saturday. The emperor of Con-
stantinople appoints the patriarch, the archbishops, and the
bishops, and gives the dignities and the benefices of churches,
and deprives those who deserve it, when he finds any cause ;
and so is he lord both temporal and spiritual in his country '!^.
And although these things touch not to our way, never-
theless they touch to that that I have promised you, to show
you a part of the customs, and manners, and diversities of
countries. And because this is the first country that is dis-
cordant in faith and in belief, and varies from our faith on
this side the sea, therefore I have set it here, that you may
know the diversity that is between our faith and theirs.
For many men have great liking to hear of strange things of
diverse countries.
Chapter IV.
OF THE WAY FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO JERUSALEM. — OF ST. JOHN THE
EVANGELIST, AND OF THE DAUGHTER OF YPOCRAS, TRANSFORMED FROM
A WOMAN TO A DRAGON.
Now return I again to explain to you the way from Con-
stantinople to Jerusalem. He that will proceed through
Turkey, goes towards the city of Nice, and passes through
the gate of Chienetout, and men see constantly before them
the hill of Chienetout, which is very lofty : it is a mile and
a half from Nice. And if you will go by water, by the
Brace of St. George, and by the sea where St. Nicholas
lieth, and towards many other places, first, you go to an isle
that is called Sylo, in which mastic grows on small trees,
out of which comes gum, as it were of plum-trees, or of
cherry-trees. And after men go by the isle of Patmos,
w^here St. John the Evangelist wrote the Apocalypse. And
you shall understand that St. John was thirty- two years
of age when our Lord suffered his passion, and after his
* The period during which Maundeville was in the east was that when
the question of reuniting the Greek and Latin churches was in agitation,
which is probably the cause he enters so largely into their differences of
belief.
138 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
passion he lived sixty-seven years, and in the hundredth
year of his age he died. From Patmos men go to Ephesus,
a fair city, and nigh to the sea. And there died St. John,
and was buried in a tomb behind the high altar. And there
is a fair church, for the Christians were always wont to hold
that place. And in the tomb of St. John is nothing but
manna, which is called angels' meat, for his body was trans-
lated into Paradise. And the Turks now hold all that place,
with the city, and the church ; and all Asia the Less is called
Turkey. And you shall understand that St. John caused his
grave to be made there in his life, and laid himself therein, all
alive ; and, therefore, some men say that he did not die, but
that he rests there till the day of doom-i^. And, in truth,
there is a great marvel, for men may see there the earth of
the tomb many times openly stir and move, as though there
were living things under.
And from Ephesus we go through many islands in the
sea to the city of Patera, where St. Nicholas was born, and
so to Myra, where he was chosen to be bishop ; and there
grows very good and strong wine, which they call wine
of Myra. And from thence men go to the isle of Crete,
which the emperor once gave to the Genoese. And then we
pass through the isles of Colos and of Langof, of the which
isles Ypocras was lord ; and some men say, that in the isle
of Lango is still the daughter of Ypocras, in form and like-
ness of a great dragon, which is a hundred fathoms in length,
as they say, for I have not seen her. And they of the isles
call her lady of the land. And she lies in an old castle,
in a cave, and appears twice or thrice in the year ; and she
doth no harm to any man unless he do her harm. She
was thus changed and transformed from a fair damsel into
the likeness of a dragon by a goddess named Diana; and
they say that she shall remain in that form until the time
that a knight come, who shall be so bold that he dare come to
her and kiss her on the mouth ; and then she shall turn again
* Long before our author's time, the text, in John xxi. 22, 23, in the
vulgar Latin, happened to be changed in favour of this notion ; for Jesus'
answer to Peter's question about John, " Lord, and what shall this man dol"
is there, "Sic eum volo manere donee veniam," the conjunction si being
dropped, by means of sic following.
+ Lango is but another name of the isle of Cos, where Hippocrates, (com-
monly called by the medieval writers Ypocras,) the famous physician, was
born. See before, p. 33.
A.D. 1322.] THE LADY CHANGED TO A DBAGON. 139
to her own nature, and be a woman again, but after that she
shall not live long. And it is not long since a knight of
Ehodes, who was bold and doughty in arms, said that he
would kiss her; when he was upon his courser and went to
the castle, and entered into the cave, the dragon lifted up
her head towards him, and when the knight saw her in that
form, so hideous and horhble, he fled aw^ay. But the dragon
carried the knight upon a rock, and from thence she cast
him into the sea, and so was lost both horse and man. A
young man that knew not of the dragon, went out of a ship,
and proceeded through the isle until he came to the castle
and entered the cave, and went so far that he found a
chamber ; and there he saw a damsel who was combing her
head and looking in a mirror, and she had much treasure
about her, and he believed that she had been a common
woman, who dwelled there to receive men to folly; and he
abode till the damsel saw the shadow of him in the mirror,
and she turned her towards him and asked him, what he
would? And he said, he would be her paramour. And she
asked him if he were a knight? And he said, nay. iVnd
then she said, that he might not be her leman; but she
bid him go again unto his fellows and get him knighted, and
come again upon the morrow, and she would come out of the
cave before him ; and then he should come and kiss her on
the mouth, and have no fear, "for I shall do thee no harm,
although thou see me in likeness of a dragon ; for though
thou see me hideous and horrible to look upon, know that it
is made by enchantment. For without doubt I am no other
than thou seest now, a woman, and therefore fear not ; and
if thou kiss me, thou shalt have all this treasure, and be my
lord, and lord also of all the isle." And he departed from
her and went to his fellows, in the ship, and w^as made a
knight, and returned on the morrow to kiss this damsel.
But when he saw her come out of the cave, in form of a
dragon, so hideous and so horrible, he had so great fear that
he fled again to the ship ; and she followed him. And when
she saw that he turned not again, she began to cry as a thing
that had much sorrow, and then she returned to her cave;
and anon the knight died. And from that time to this
might no knight see her, but he died anon. But when there
shall come a knight who is bold enough to kiss her, he shall
not die; but he shall turn the damsel into her right form
140 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1323.
and natural shape, and he shall be lord of all the countries
and isles abovesaid.
And from thence men come to the isle of Rhodes, which
isle the Hospitalers* hold and govern, having on a time
taken it from the emperor. It was formerly called Collos,
and so the Turks call it still ; and St. Paul, in his Epistles,
writes to the people of this isle, ad Colossenses\. This isle
is nearly eight hundred miles from Constantinople.
From this isle of Rhodes we go to Cyprus, where are many
vines, which first produce red wine, and after one year they
become white ; and those vdnes that are most w^hite are the
clearest and best of smell. And men pass that way by a place
which was a great city and a great land ; and the city was
called Sathalie. This city and the land were lost through the
folly of a young man, who had a fair damsel whom he loved
well for his paramour, and she died suddenly and was placed
in a tomb of marble ; and for the great love that he had to
her, he went in the night to her tomb, and opened it and
went in. And when it came to the end of nine months,
there came a voice to him, and said, "Go to the tomb of that
woman, and open it, and behold w^hat thou hast begotten on
her; and if thou omittest to go, thou shalt have a great
harm. And he went and opened the tomb ; and there came
out a snake, very hideous to behold, which immediately flew
about the city and the country, and soon after the city was
swallowed up J. And there are many perilous passages.
From Rhodes to Cyprus are five hundred miles and more;
but we may go to Cyprus without touching at Rhodes. Cyprus
* The two orders, the Templars and Hospitalers, having been expelled
from Palestine by the Mohammedans, on the capture of Acre in 1291, the first
retired to Cyprus ; but in 1310 the Hospitalers made themselves masters of
the isle of Rhodes, which became the chief place of the order until it was
taken by the Turks, on the 1st of January, 1523, when they removed to
Malta.
+ See before, p. 33 of the present volume, where the same blunder is
made by Saewulf
% This story, or one very similar to it, is found in the chronicle of John of
Brompton. The bay of Batalia was notoriously dangerous to navigators, who
attempted to account for it by legends like these. We have already seen an
earlier traveller, Saewulf, narrowly escape shipwreck in passing it (p. 49).
John of Brompton gives two legends to account for the stormy character of
the bay, according to one of which the head of the monster alluded to in the
text lay at the bottom ; and when it was turned with the face upwards, this
position caused a perilous tempest.
A.D. 1322.] THE ISLAND OF CYPKUS. 141
is a very good, fair, and great island, and it hath four principal
cities, with an archbishop at Nicosia, and four other bishops ;
and at Famagosta is one of the first harbours of the sea in the
world ; and there arrive Christians, Saracens, and men of all
nations. In Cyprus is the hill of the Holy Cross, where there
is an abbey of black monks, and there is the cross of Dismas,
the good thief, as I have said before. And some men believe
that there is half of the cross of our Lord ; but it is not so,
and they do wrong who make people believe so. In Cyprus
lies St. Zenomyne, of whom men of that country make great
solemnity ; and in the castle of Amours lies the body of St.
Hilary, which they keep very worshipfully. Near Famagosta
St. Barnabas the apostle was born. In Cyprus they hunt with
papyons *, which resemble leopards, and they take wild beasts
right well, and they are somewhat larger than lions, and take
more sharply and more cleverly than hounds do. In Cyprus it
is the custom for lords and all other men to eat on the earth ;
for they make trenches in the earth about in the hall, deep to
the knee, and pave them ; and when they will eat, they go
therein and sit there. And the reason is that they may be
cooler ; for that land is much hotter than it is here. And at
great feasts, and for strangers, they set forms and tables as
men do in this country ; but they themselves prefer sitting on
the earth.
From Cyprus they go to the land of Jerusalem by sea, and
in a day and night he that hath good wind may come to the
haven of Tyre, which is now called Sur. Here was once a
great and good city of the Christians ; but the Saracens have
destroyed it in great part; and they guard that haven carefully
for fear of the Christians. Men might go more direct to
that haven, wdthout touching at Cyprus ; but they go gladly to
Cyprus, to rest them in the land, or to buy things that they
need for their living. On the sea-side many rubies are found.
There is the well of which Holy Writ speaketh, saying, " A
fountain of gardens, and a well of living waters."! It was in
this city of Tyre that the woman said to our Lord, " Blessed
is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast
* These were a kind of large wild dogs. Jacobus de Yitriaco (" Hist.
Orient.," lib. iii.), speaking of the animals of .Tudea, says, " Sunt ibi cameli et
bubali abundanter, et^apio^iesquos appellant, canes silvestres, acriores quam
lupi."
t Song of Solomon, iv. 15.
142 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1522.
sucked. "^^ And there our Lord forgave the woman of Canaan
her sins. And before Tyre stood formerly the stone on which
our Lord sat and preached, and over which was built the
church of St. Saviour.
Eight miles from Tyre, towards the east, upon the sea, is
the city of Sarphen, in Sarept of the Sidonians. There dwelt
Elijah the prophet, and he raised there Jonas, the widow's
son, from death to life. And five miles from Sarphen is the
city of Sidon, of which Dido was lady, who was wife of Eneas,
after the destruction of Troy, and who founded the city of
Carthage in Africa, and now it is called Didon Sayete. And in
the city of Tyre reigned Agenor, the father of Dido. Sixteen
miles from Sidon is Beruthe (Beirut); and from Beruthe to
Sardenare is three days. And from Sardenare it is five miles
to Damascus.
And those who are willing to go a long time on the sea, and
come nearer to Jerusalem, may proceed from Cyprus by sea
to the port of Jaffa, for that is the nearest port to Jerusalem,
the distance being only one day and a half. The town is called
Jaffa, because one of the sons of Noah, named Japhet, founded
it, and now it is called Joppa. And you shall understand that
it is one of the oldest towns of the world, for it was founded
before Noah's flood. And there may still be seen in the rock
there the place where the iron chains were fastened, where-
with Andromeda, a great giant, was bound and put in prison,
before Noah's flood ; a rib of whose side, which is forty feet
long, is still shown f.
And those who go to the port of Tyre or Sur, before
mentioned, may proceed by land, if they will, to Jerusalem.
They go from Sur in a day to the city of Akoun (Acre), which
was called formerly Ptolemais, and it was once a very fine city of
Christians ; but it is now destroyed. It stands upon the sea.
From Venice to Akoun, by sea, is two thousand and eighty
Lombard miles. From Calabria, or from Sicily to Akoun,
by sea, is thirteen hundred Lombard miles. And the Isle
of Crete is just midway. Near the city of Akoun, toward
the sea, one hundred and twenty furlongs on the right,
toward the south, is the hill of Carmel, where Elijah the
* Luke, xi. 27.
+ Our author has picked up a strange version of the classic story of Perseus
and Andromeda, and has even mistaken Andromeda for the monster that was
to have devoured her. The mark of the chain is mentioned by Solinus.
A.D. 1322.] ACEE, AND ITS GLASS— GAZA. 143
prophet dwelt, and where the order of friars Carmelites was
first founded. This hill is not very great, nor very high. At
the foot of this hill was formerly a good city of the Christians
called Caiphas, because Caiaphas first founded it ; but it is
now all waste. And on the left side of the hill of Carmel is
a town called Saffre, which is situated on another hill. There
St. James and St. John were born, and there is a fair church
in honour of them. And from Ptolemais, which is now^ called
Akoun, it is one hundred furlongs to a great hill, called the
scale (or ladder) of Tyre. And near the city of Akoun runs a
little river called Belon ; and there nigh is the foss of
Memnon, which is all round; and it is one hundred cubits
broad, and all full of gravel, shining bright, of which men
make fair and clear glasses *. Men come from far, by water with
ships, and by land with carts, to fetch of that gravel ; and though
ever so much be taken away thereof one day, on the morrow
it is as full again as ever it was. And that is a great wonder.
And there is always great wind in that foss, that continually
stirs the gravel and makes it troubled ; and if any man put
therein any kind of metal, it turns to glass, and the glass
made of that gravel, if it be thrown back into the gravel, turns
to gravel as it was first ; and therefore some men say that it
is a whirlpool of the gravelly sea.
From Akoun, above mentioned, it is four days' journey to the
city of Palestine, which was of the Philistines, now called Gaza,
which is a gay and rich city ; and it is very fair, and full of
people, and is at a little distance from the. sea. From this
city Samson the strong brought the gates upon a high land,
when he was taken in that city : and there he slew, in a
palace, the king and himself, and great numbers of the best
of the Philistines, who had put out his eyes, and shaved his
head, and imprisoned him, by treason of Delilah, his paramour.
And therefore he caused a great hall to fall upon them when
they were at meat. From thence we go to the city of Cesarea,
and so to the Castle of Pilgrims, and so to Ascalon, and then
to Jafia, and so to Jerusalem.
* A similar description is found in Geoffrey de Yinsauf (Itin. Eeg. Ric. I.
lib. i. c. 32), who, however, states that it is a mere story taken from So-
linus, and he does not assert that there was such a foss in his time. It
may be further observed that Maundeville has fallen into another blunder
in confounding the foss alluded to with the pretended sepulchre of
Memnon.
144 SIK JOHN MAUNDEYILLE. [A.D. 1322.
Chapter V.
OF MANY NAMES OF SULTANS, AND OF THE TOWER OF BABYLON.
And he who will go by land through the land of Babylonia,
where the sultan dwells commonly, he must get leave and
grace of him, to go more safely through the lands and coun-
tries. And to go to the Mount of Sinai, before men go to
Jerusalem, they shall go from Gaza to the castle of Daire.
And after that, they come out of Syria and enter a wilderness
where the way is sandy ; and that wilderness and desert lasts
eight days. But men always find good inns and all they
need of victuals. And that wilderness - is called Athylec.
And when a man comes out of that desert, he enters into
Egypt, which is called Egypt Canopac : and after other lan-
guage, men call it Morsyn. And there men first find a good
town, called Belethe, which is at the end of the kingdom of
Aleppo ; and from thence men go to Babylon and to Cairo.
At Babylon there is a fair church of our Lady, where she
dwelt seven years, when she fled out of the land of Judea for
dread of king Herod. And there lieth the body of St. Bar-
bara, the virgin and martyr. And there dwelt Joseph after
he was sold by his brethren. And there ^ Nebuchadnezzar,
the king, caused the three children to be thrown into the fur-
nace of fire because they were in the true belief; w^hich chil-
dren were called Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, as the psalm of
Benedicite says. But Nebuchadnezzar called them otherwise,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that is to say, God glo-
' rious, God victorious, and God over all things and realms, on
account of the miracle, that he saw God's Son go with the
children through the fire, as he said. The sultan dwells in
his Calahelyke (for there is commonly his residence), in a
fair castle, strong and great, and well set upon a rock. In
that castle dwell always, to keep it and to serve the sultan,
more than 6000 persons, who receive here all necessaries from
the sultan's court. I ought to know it well, for I dwelt a
great while with him as soldier in his wars against the Be-
douins ; and he would have married me full highly to a great
prince's daughter if I would have forsaken my law and my
belief. But I thank God I had no will to do it for anything
that he promised me. And you shall understand that the
* It is curious that Maundeville should thus confound Babylon of Chaldea
with Babylon of Egypt.
A.D. 1322.] THE SULTANS OF EGYPT. 145
sultan IS lord of five kingdoms, that he hath conquered and
taken possession of by strength ; and these are their names :
the kingdom of Canopac, that is Egypt ; and the kingdom of
Jerusalem, where David and Solomon were kings ; and the
kingdom of Syria, of which the city of Damascus was chief ;
and the kingdom of Aleppo, in the land of Mathe ; and the
kingdom of Arabia, that belonged to one of the three kings
who made offering to our Lord when he was born. And he holds
many other lands in his hand. And therewithal he holds
khalifs, which is a full great thing in their language, being as
much as to say, kings. And there were wont to be five sultans,
but now there is no more but he of Egypt. The first sultan
was Sarocon^-i^, who was of Media (the father of Saladin), who
took the khalif of Egypt and slew him, and was made sultan
by strength. After him was sultan Saladin, in whose time
the king of England, Richard I., with many others, kept the
passage, that Saladin might not pass. After Saladin, reigned
his son Boradin ; and after him his nephew. After that the
Comanians, who were in slavery in Egypt, feeling themselves
of great power, chose them a sultan amongst them, who took
the name of Melechesalan, in whose time St. Louis, king of
France, entered into the country and fought with him ; and
the sultan took him prisoner. This sultan was slain by his
own servants. And after, they chose another to be sultan,
who was called Tympieman; he delivered St. Louis out of
prison for a certain ransom. After him one of the Comanians
reigned, named Cachas, and slew Tympieman, in order to be
sultan ; he took the name of Melechemes. He was succeeded
by one named Bendochdare, who slew Melechemes to be
sultan, and called himself Melechdare. In his time the good
king Edward of England entered into Syria, and did great
harm to the Saracens. This sultan was poisoned at Damascus;
and his son thought to reign after him by heritage, and took
the name of Melechsache ; but another, named Elphy, drove
him out of the country, and made himself sultan. This man
took the city of Tripoli, and destroyed many of the Christian
* Sirkouk, or Siracon, was the vizir of Noureddin, sultan of Aleppo^ and
was uncle, not father, of Saladin. He dethroned the last Fatimite khalif of
Egypt, and brought that country under the power of the sultans, which was
soon after usurped by Saladin, who reigned from 1173 to 1193. The other
sultans mentioned by Maundeville may easily be identified by a reference to
the ordinary histories.
L
]46 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322.
men, in the year of Grace 1289 ; but lie was soon after
slain. Elphy's son succeeded as sultan, and took the name of
Melechasseraff ; he took the city of Acre, and expelled the
Christians ; and he also was poisoned, upon which his brother
was made sultan, and called Melechnasser. And after, one
who was called Guytoga took him and threw him into prison
in the castle of Mount Royal, and usurped the sovereignty by
force, and took the name of Melechcadelle ; and he was a Tar-
tar. But the Comanians drove him out of the country, and
caused him much sorrow ; and made one of themselves sultan,
named Lachyn, who assumed the name of Melechmanser.
One day he was playing at chess, and his sword lay beside
him, and it befel that one angered him, and he was slain
with his own sword. After that there was great discord be-
fore they could choose a sultan, and finally they agreed to
take Melechnasser, whom Guytoga had put in prison at
Mount Royal. He reigned long and governed wisely ; so that
his eldest son, Melechemader, was chosen after him ; he was
secretly put to death by his brother, who succeeded him, and
w^as called Melechmadabron. And he was sultan when I de-
parted from that country ^^'.
Now you must know that the sultan can lead out of Egypt
more than 20,000 men of arms; and out of Syria, and Turkey,
and other countries that he holds, he may raise more than
50,000. And all these are at his wages ; and they are a,lways
ready, besides the people of his country, who are without
number. And each of them has six score florins by the year ;
but he is expected to keep three horses and a camel. And in
the cities and towns are admirals, that have the government
of the people. One has four to govern, another five, another
more, and another a much greater number. And the ad-
miral, himself alone, receives as much as all the other soldiers
under him. And therefore, when the sultan will advance any
worthy knight, he makes him an admiral. When there is
dearth, the knights are very poor, and then they sell both
their horses and their harness. The sultan has four wives,
one Christian, and three Saracens; of whom one dwells at
Jerusalem, another at Damascus, and another at Ascalon.
* This was the sultan Koutchouc-Ascraf, who was chosen successor to his
brother in 1341, and, after reigning about six months, was deposed on the
11th of January, 1342. This fixes Maundeville's departure from Egypt to
the latter months of the year 1341.
A.D. 1322.] THE TOWER OF BABEL. 147
And when tliey please they remove to other cities ; and when
the sultan will he may go and visit them. And he has as many
paramours as he pleases ; for he causes to he brought before
him the fairest and noblest damsels of his country, who are
kept and served full honourably, and when he will have one
to lie with him, he makes them all come before him, and
looks at them all to see which is most to his liking, and to her
anon he sends or throws a ring from his finger ; and then
anon she shall be bathed and richly attired, and anointed
with delicate things of sweet smell, and then led to the
sultan's chamber. And thus he acts as often as he likes,
when he will have any of them. No stranger comes before
the sultan without being clothed in cloth of gold, or of Tar-
tary, or of Camaka, in the Saracens' guise, and according to
the usage of the Saracens. And when men see the sultan
for the first time, be it at the window, or in any other place,
they must kneel to him and kiss the earth, for that is the
manner for those who speak with the sultan to do reverence
to him. When messengers of foreign countries come before
him, the sultan's people, when the strangers speak to him,
stand round the sultan with drawn swords and gysarmes and
axes, their arms raised up on high with their weapons, to
smite them, if they say any word that is displeasing to the
sultan. Neither does any stranger come before him without
receiving a promise and grant of what he asks reasonably, if
it be not against his law ; and so do other princes beyond.
For they say that no man should come before a prince with-
out being the better, and departing from his presence in
greater gladness than when he came before him.
You must understand that the Babylon of which I have
spoken, where the sultan dwells, is not that great Babylon
where the diversity of languages was first made by the miracle
of God when the great tower of Babel was begun, of which
the walls were sixty-four furlongs high ; for that is in the
great deserts of Arabia, on the way as men go toward the
kingdom of Chaldea. But it is full long since any man dare
approach to the tower ; for it is all desert and full of dragons
and great serpents, and infested by divers venomous beasts.
That tower, with the city, was twenty-five miles in the circuit
of the walls, as they of the country say, and as men may
judge by estimation, according to what men of the country
tell. And though it is called the tower of Babylon, yet there
L 2
148 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
were ordained within it many mansions and great dwelling-
places, in length and breadth ; and it included an extensive
district, for the tower alone was ten miles square. That tower
was founded by king Nimrod, who w^as king of that country,
and he was the first king in the world. He caused an image
to be made in the likeness of his father, and obliged all his
subjects to worship it, in imitation of which other lords begun
to do the same, and this was the commencement of idols
and simulacres*. The town and city were situated in a fair
country on a plain, which they call the country of Samar :
the walls of the city were two hundred cubits in height, and
fifty cubits in breadth. The river Euphrates ran through the
city and about the tower; but Cyrus, king of Persia, took
from them the river, and destroyed all the city and the tow^er
also, for he divided the river into three hundred and sixty
small rivers, because he had sw^orn that he would put the
river in such point that a w^oman might easily pass it without
taking up her clothes ; because he had lost many worthy
men that tried to pass the river by swdmmingf. And from
Babylon, where the sultan dwells, to go right between the
east and the north, towards the great Babylon, it is forty days
across the desert. But the great Babylon is not in the land and
power of the said sultan, but in the power and lordship of the
king of Persia, who holds it of the great chan, who is the
greatest emperor and the most sovereign lord of all the parts
beyond ; and he is lord of the isles of Cathay and of many other
isles, and of a great part of India. His land borders unto
Prester John's land ; and he possesses so much land, that he
knoweth not the end of it. And he is a mightier and greater
lord without comparison than the sultan. I shall speak more
fully of his royal estate and of his might when 1 treat of India.
The city of Mechon (Mecca), where Mohammed is buried, is
also in the great desert of Arabia. His body lies there very
honourably in their temple, which the Saracens call mosque.
It is from Babylon the Less, where the sultan dwells, to
Mechon, about thirty- two days. The realm of Arabia is a
very great country ; but therein is over much desert, and no
man may dwell there in that desert, for want of water,
because the land is all gravelly and full of sand. And it is
^ See Maundeville's explanation of this word in a subsequent chapter.
+ This account of Babylon is taken chiefly from Pliny and the ancient
geographers.
A.D. 1322.] .RESIDENCE OF THE SULTANS. 149
dry and entirely barren, because it hath no moisture, and
therefore is there so much desert. And if it had rivers and
wells, and the land were as in other parts, it would be as full
of people and as well inhabited as in other places. For
there is a great multitude of people wherever the land is
inhabited. Arabia reaches from the borders of Chaldea to
the extremity of Africa, and borders on the land of Idumea,
towards the end of Botron. And in Chaldea the chief city is
Baldak*. The chief city of Africa is Carthage, which Dido,
who was Eneas 's wife, founded. Mesopotamia stretches also
unto the deserts of Arabia ; it is an extensive country, and in
it is the city of Haran, where Abraham's father dwelt, and
from whence Abraham departed by command of the angel f.
And of that city was Ephraemj, who was a celebrated scholar.
Theophilus was also of that city, whom our Lady saved from
the evil one§. Mesopotamia reaches from the river Eu-
phrates to the river Tigris, lying between those two rivers ;
and beyond the Tigris is Chaldea, which is a very extensive
kingdom. In that realm, at Baldak abovesaid, the khalifs
formerly dwelt, who were both as emperors and popes of
the Arabians, lords spiritual and temporal. They were the
successors of Mohammed, from whom they were descended.
The city of Baldak was formerly called Sutis||, and was
founded by Nebuchadnezzar. There dwelt the holy prophet
Daniel, and there he saw visions of heaven, and there he
made the exposition of dreams IF. There were formerly three
khalifs, and they dwelt in the city of Baldak abovesaid.
The khalif of Egypt dwelt at Cairo, beside Babylon; and at
Marrok, on the west sea, dwelt the khalif of the Barbarians ^^
and Africans. But there are now none of the khalifs, nor
have there been any since the time of the sultan Saladin,
since which the sultan calls himself the khalif, and thus the
khalifs have lost their name. You must know that Babylon
the Less, where the sultan dwells, and the city of Cairo, which
f Gen. xii. 1. X Ephraem Cyrus.
§ The legend of Theophilus, who sold himself to the evil one, and then
repented, and was saved from the devil by the Virgin Mary, was a popular
one in the Middle Ages. See Jubinal's Rutebeuf, vol. ii. pages 79 and 260.
He is commonly said to have lived at Adana, in Cilicia.
II Susa.
Ill A spurious book, purporting to be the exposition of dreams compiled by
the prophet Daniel, was very popular in the middle ages, and is the work
here alluded to.
** i. e. The people of Barbary.
150 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322.
is near it, are great and fair cities, the one nearly adjacent to
the other. Babylon is situated on the river Gyson, some-
times called the Nile, which comes out of terrestrial Paradise,
The river Nile, every year, when the sun enters the sign of
Cancer, begins to increase, and continues increasing as long
as the sun is in Cancer and in Leo. And it increases to
such a degree, that it is sometimes twenty cubits or more
deep, and then it does great harm to the goods that are upon
the land ; for then no man can till the earth on account of
its great moistness, and therefore there is dear time in that
country. And also, when it increaseth little, it is dear time
in that country, for want of moisture. And when the sun
is in the sign of Virgo, then begins the river to wane and
decrease gradually, so that when the sun is entered into the
sign of Libra, then they enter between these rivers. This
river comes from terrestrial Paradise, between the deserts of
India ; and after it descends on the earth, and runs through
many extensive countries under earth ; and after it comes out
under a high hill, which they call Alothe, between India and
Ethiopia, at a distance of five mouths' journey from the
entrance of Ethiopia; and after it environs all Ethiopia and
Mauritania, and goes all along from the land of Egypt, to the
city of Alexandria, to the end of Egypt, where it falls into the
sea. About this river are many birds and fowls, as storks,
which they call ibes.
Egypt is a long country, but it is narrow, because they
may not enlarge it towards the desert for want of water.
And the country is situated along the river Nile ; so that
that river may serve by floods or otherwise, that when it flows
it may spread abroad through the country. For it raineth
but little in that country, and for that cause they have no
water, unless it be by the overflowing of that river. And as it
does not rain, the air is always pure and clear ; therefore, in that
country are good astronomers, for they find there no clouds to
obstruct them.
The city of Cairo is very great, more extensive than that
of Babylon the Less ; and it is situated above tow^ards the
desert of Syria, a little above the river aforesaid. In Egypt
there are two parts ; Upper Egypt, which is towards Ethi-
opia, and Lower Egypt, which is towards Arabia. In Egypt
is the land of Rameses and the land of Goshen. Egypt is
a strong country, for it has many dangerous havens, because
of the great rocks, that are strong and dangerous to pass by.
A.D. 1322.] EGYPT THE PHCENIX. 151
Towards the east of Egypt is the Red Sea, which extends to
the city of Coston ; and towards the west is the country of Ly-
bia, which is a very dry land, and unfruitful, on account of the
excess of heat. And that land is called Fusthe. And towards
the south is Ethiopia. And towards the north is the desert,
which extends to Syria. Thus the country is strong on all
sides. And it is full fifteen days' journey in length, and more
than twice as much of desert, and it is but two days in breadth.
Between Egypt and Nubia there is full twelve days of desert.
The men of Nubia are Christians, but they are black, like the
Moors, on account of the great heat of the sun.
In Egypt there are five provinces : one is called Sahythe ;
the other, Demeseer; another, Resithe-i^, which is an isle
in the Nile ; another, Alexandria ; and another, the land of Da-
miette. This latter city was once very strong, but it was
twice taken by the Christians, and therefore the Saracens
have beaten dow^n the walls. And with the walls and the
tower thereof the Saracens made another city farther from
the sea, and called it New Damiette, so that now the older
town of Damiette is uninhabited. That city of Damiette is
one of the havens of Egypt, and at Alexandria is the other.
This is a very strong city; but it has no water except what
is brought by conduit from the Nile, which enters into their
cisterns ; and if any one stopped that water from them they
could not hold out a siege. In Egypt there are but few
forts or castles, because the country is so strong of itself.
In Egypt is the city of Heliopolis, that is to say, the city
of the Sun, in which there is a temple, made round, after the
shape of the temple of Jerusalem. The priests of that
temple have all their writings dated by the bird called Phoe-
nix, of which there is but one in the world. It comes to
burn itself on the altar of the temple at the end of five
hundred years, for so long it lives; and then the priests
array their altar, and put thereon spices, and sulphur, and
other things that will burn quickly, and the Phoenix comes
and burns itself to ashes. The next day they find in the
ashes a worm; and the second day after they find a bird,
alive and perfect; and the third day it flies awayf. This
* Rosetta.
+ This account of the Phoenix is taken from Pliny's Natural History,
X. 2, and xi. 37. The legend of the Phoenix was a very favourite one
throughout the middle ages.
152 . SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322^
bird is often seen flying in those countries ; it is somewhat
larger than an eagle, and has a crest of feathers on its
head greater than that of a peacock ; its neck is yel-
low, its beak blue, and its wings of a purple colour, and
the tail is yellow^ and red. It is a very handsome bird to
look at against the sun, for it shines very gloriously and
nobly.
Also, in Egypt, there are gardens with trees and herbs
which bear fruit seven times in the year. And in that land
abundance of fair emeralds are found, which are on that account
cheaper than elsewhere. When it rains, once in the sum-
mer, in the land of Egypt, the country is all full of great
mires. At Cairo they sell commonly in the market, as we
do beasts, both men and women of a different religion. And
there is a common house in that city, which is all full of
small furnaces, to which the townswomen bring their eggs of
hens, geese, and ducks, to be put into the furnaces ; and they
that keep that house cover them with horse-dung, without
hen, goose, or duck, or any other fowl, and at the end of
three weeks or a month they come again and take their
chickens, and nourish them and bring them forth, so that
all the country is full of them. And this they do there
both winter and summer.
In that country also, and in some others, are found long
apples in their season, w^hich they call apples of Paradise ;
and they are very sweet and of good savour. And though
you cut them in ever so many slices or parts, across or end-
wise, you will always find in the middle the figure of the holy
cross. But they will rot within eight days, for which reason
they cannot be carried to far countries. They have great
leaves, a foot and a half long, and proportionately broad.
They find there also the apple-tree of Adam, the fruit of
w^hich has a bite on one side. And there are also fig-trees
which bear no leaves, but figs grow upon the small branches;
and men call them figs of Pharoah. Also near Cairo is the field
where balm grows : it comes out on small trees, that are no
higher than the girdle of a man's breeches, and resemble the
w^ood of the wild vine. And in that field are seven wells,
which our Lord Jesus Christ made with one of his feet, when he
went to play with other children ^^^. That field is not so well
* The story is taken from one of the apocryphal books of the Eastern
A.D. 1322.] THE NATURE OF BALSAM. 153
closed but men may enter at their will ; but in tbe season
when the balm is growing good guards are placed there, that
no man dare enter. This balm grows in no other place but
this ; and though men bring of the plants to plant in other
countries, they grow well and fair, but they bring forth no
fruit; and the leaves of balm never fall. They cut the
branches with a sharp flint stone, or with a sharp bone ; for if
any one cut them with iron, it would destroy their virtue and
nature. The Saracens call the wood Enochhalse ; and the
fruit, which resembles cubebs, they call Abebissam>; and the
liquor that drops from the branches they call Guybalse. They
always cause that balm to be cultivated by Christians, or else
it would not fructify, as the Saracens say themselves, for it
hath been oftentimes proved. Men say also that balm
grows in India the Greater, in that desert where the trees of
the sun and moon spake to Alexander*. But I have not
seen it, for I have not been so far upward, because there
are too many perilous passages. And you must know that a
man ought to take great care in buying balm ; for, if he does
not know it well, he may very easily be deceived ; for they
sell a gam called turpentine instead of balm, putting thereto
a little balm to give a good odour. And some put wax in oil
of the wood of the fruit of balm, and say that it is balm;
and some distil cloves of gilofre and spikenard of Spain, and
other spices that are well smelling, and the liquor from it
they call balm ; and they imagine they have balm, but they
are mistaken. For the Saracens counterfeit it to deceive the
Christians, as I have seen many a time ; and after them, the
merchants and the apothecaries counterfeit it again, and then
it is less worth, and a great deal worse. But I will show how
you may know and prove it, to the end that you shall not be
deceived. First, you must know that the natural balm is
very clear, of citron colour, and strong smell ; and if it be
thick, or red, or black, it is counterfeit. And if you will
sectarians, which had a considerable influence on the legendary literature
of the medieval church,
* The wonderful adventures of Alexander the Great in his Indian expedi-
tion, and the marvels he met with, are the subject of a multitude of extra-
ordinary legends in the middle ages, and exerted no little influence on
geography and natural science down to a comparatively recent period. The
hero was made to give an account of them in a supposititious letter to his
preceptor Aristotle, which was published in almost every language in Western
Europe, and is of freq^uent recurrence in medieval manuscripts.
154 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 13Q2.
put a little balm in the palm of your hand towards the sun,
if it be fine and good you will not be able to bear your hand
in the sun's heat. Also, take a little balm with the point of
a knife, and touch it to the fire, and if it burn it is a good
sign. Take also a drop of balm, and put it into a dish, or in
a cup, with milk of a goat, and, if it be natural balm, anon it
will take and curdle the milk. Or put a drop of balm in
clear water, in a cup of silver or in a clean basin, and stir it
well w^ith the clear water ; and if the balm be fine and ge-
nuiue the water will not be troubled ; but if the balm be coun-
terfeit the water will become troubled immediately. Also,
if the balm be fine, it will fall to the bottom of the vessel, as
though it were quicksilver ; for the fine balm is twice as heavy
as the balm that is counterfeited.
Now T will speak of another thing that is beyond Babylon,
above the Nile, towards the desert, between Africa and Egypt ;
that is, of the granaries of Joseph-^, that he caused to be
made, to keep the grains against the dear years. They are
made of stone, well made by masons' craft; two of them are
marvellously great and high, the others are not so great.
And each granary has a gate to enter within, a little above
the earth ; for the land is wasted and fallen since the gra-
naries were made. Within they are all full of serpents ; and
above the granaries without are many writings in divers lan-
guages. And some men say that they are sepulchres of great
lords, that were formerly ; but that is not true, for all the
common rumour and speech of the people there, both far and
near, is that they are the granaries of Joseph ; and so find
they in their writings and chronicles. On the other side, if
they were sepulchres, they would not be empty within ; for
you may well know, that tombs and sepulchres are not made
of such magnitude or elevation ; wherefore it is not credible
that they are tombs or sepulchres.
Now I will proceed to tell you the other w^ays that draw
towards Babylon, where the sultan dwells, which is at the
entry of Egypt ; because many people go thither first, and
after that to Mount Sinai, and then return to Jerusalem, as I
have told you before. For they perform first the longer
pilgrimage, and return by the nearest ways ; because the
* These are, of course, the pyramids. See the slight allusion to them in
Benjamin of Tudela, p. 121.
A.D. 1322.] • WAYS TO JERUSALEM:. 155
nearer way is tlie more worthy, and that is Jerusalem ; for
no other pilgrimage is to be compared to it. But to accom-
plish their pilgrimages more easily and safely, men go first
the longer way. But whoever will go to Babylon by another
way, and shorter from the countries of the west, he may go by
France, Burgundy, and Lombardy. It is not necessary to
tell you the names of the cities and towns in that way, for
the way is common, and known to every body. There are
many ports where men take the sea ; some embark at Genoa ;
some at Venice, and pass by the Adriatic Sea, which is called
the Gulf of Venice, and divides Italy and Greece on that
side ; and some go to Naples ; some to Rome, and from Rome
to Brindes*, and embark there, and in many other places.
Some go by Tuscia, Campania, Calabria, by Apulia, and by
the mountains of Italy Chorisque, by Sardinia, and by Sicily,
which is a great and good isle. In that isle of Sicily is a
kind of garden, in which are many different fruits ; and the
garden is green and flourishing at all seasons of the year, as
well in winter as in summer. That isle contains in compass
about three hundred and fifty French miles. Between Sicily
and Italy there is but a little arm of the sea, which men call
the Faro of Messina; and Sicily is between the Adriatic Sea
and the Sea of Lombardy. From Sicily to Calabria is but
eight Lombard miles. In Sicily there is a kind of serpent
by which men assay and prove if their children be bastards
or not ; for if they are born in lawful marriage, the serpents
go about them, and do them no harm ; but if they are
illegitimate, the serpents bite them and kill them with their
venom : and thus many wedded men ascertain if the children
be their own. Also in that isle is Mount Etna, which men
call Mount Gybell, and volcanoes, that are ever burning.
And there are seven places which burn and cast out flames
of divers colours ; and by the changing of those flames, men
of that country know when it will be dearth or good time, or
cold or hot, or moist or dry, or in all other manners how the
time will vary. From Italy to the volcanoes is but twenty-
five miles ; and they say that the volcanoes are ways to hell f .
Also, for those who go by Pisa, there is an arm of the sea,
where men go to other havens in those parts, and then they
pass by the isle of G reaf, that is at Genoa ; and so they arrive
* Brindisi, the ancient Brundusium. + See before, p. 22.
156 SIK JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322.
in Greece at the port of the city of Myrok, or at the port of Va-
lone, or at the city of Duras (where there is a duke), or at other
ports in those parts ; and so men go to Constantinople. And
afterwards they go hy water to the isle of Crete, and to the
isle of Rhodes, and so to Cyprus, and so to Athens, and
from thence to Constantinople.
To hold the more direct way hy sea, it is full one thousand
eight hundred and eighty Lombard miles. And after, from
Cyprus they go by sea, and leave Jerusalem and that country
on the left, and proceed to Egypt, and arrive at the city of
Damiette, at the entrance of Egypt, whence they go to Alex-
andria, which is also upon the sea. In that city was St.
Catherine beheaded ; and there St. Mark the Evangelist was
martyred and buried ; but the emperor Leo caused his bones
to be carried to Venice. There is still at Alexandria a fair
church, all white, without pictures ; and so are all the other
churches which belonged to the Christians all white wdthin,
for the Pagans and the Saracens whitewashed them, to de-
stroy the images of saints that w^ere painted on the walls.
The city of Alexandria is full thirty furlongs in length, but it
is but ten broad ; and it is a noble and fair city. Here the
river Nile enters the sea : in which river are found many
precious stones, and much also of lignum aloes, a kind of
wood that comes out of terrestrial Paradise, and is good for
many different medicines ; and it is very precious. From
Alexandria we go to Babylon, where the sultan dwells, which
is situated also on the river Nile ; and this is the shortest way
to go direct to Babylon.
From Babylon to Mount Sinai, where St. Catherine lieth,
you must pass by the desert of Arabia, by which Moses led
the people of Israel ; and then you pass the well which Moses
made with his hand in the desert, when the people murmured
because they found nothing to drink. And then you pass the
well of Marah, of which the water was first bitter, but the
children of Israel put therein a tree, and anon the water was
sweet and good to drink. And then you go by the desert to
the vale of Elim, in which vale are twelve wells ; and there
are seventy-two palm-trees that bear the dates which Moses
found with the children of Israel. And from that valley is
but a good day's journey to Mount Sinai.
And those who will go by another way from Babylon go by
the Red Sea, which is an arm of the ocean. There Moses passed
A.D. 13?22.] MOUNT SiNAr. 157
with the children of Israel across the sea all dry, when
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, pursued him. That sea is about six
miles broad. That sea is not redder than other seas ; but in
some places the gravel is red, and therefore they call it the
Bed Sea. That sea runs to the borders of Arabia and
Palestine, its extent being more than four days. Then we go
by desert to the vale of Elim, and thence to Mount Sinai.
And you must know that by this desert no man may go on
horseback, because there is neither meat for horses nor water
to drink ; wherefore they pass that desert with camels. For
the camel finds always food in trees and on bushes, and he can
abstain from drink two or three days, which no horse can do.
From Babylon to Mount Sinai is twelve good days' journey,
and some make it more; and some haste them, and thus make
it less. And men always find interpreters to go with them in
the countries, and further beyond, until they know the
language. Travellers must carry with them victuals and
other necessaries sufficient to last through those deserts.
Mount Sinai is called the Desert of Sin, that is to say, the
burning bush ; because there Moses saw our Lord God many
times in form of fire burning upon that hill, and also in a
burning bush, and spake to him. And that was at the foot of
the hill. There is an abbey of monks, well built and well
closed with gates of iron for fear of wild beasts. The monks
are Arabians or Greeks ; and there is a great convent, and
they are all as hermits, and drink no wine except on prin-
cipal feasts; they are very devout men, and live in poverty
and simplicity on gourds and dates, and perform great ab-
stinence and penance. Here is the church of St. Catherine,
in which are many lamps burning, for they have enough oil of
olives both to burn in their lamps and to eat also, which
plenty they have by God s miracle : for the ravens, crows,
and choughs, and other fowls of that country, assemble there
once every year, and fly thither as in pilgrimage ; and each
brings a branch of bays or olive in its beak, instead of offer-
ing, and leaves it there; of which the monks make great
plenty of oil ; and this is a great marvel. And since fowds
that have no natural knowledge or reason go thither to seek that
glorious Virgin, well more ought men to seek her and worship
her. Behind the altar of that church is the place where
Moses saw our Lord God in a burning bush. When the
inonks enter that place they altvays put off both hose, and
158 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. ] 32'2.
shoes or boots, because our Lord said to Moses, '*Put off thy
shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is
holy ground."'!' And the monks call that place Bezeleel,
that is, the shadow of God. Beside the high altar raised on
three steps, is the chest of alabaster containing the bones of
St. Catherine, and the prelate of the monks shows the
relics to the pilgrims, and rubs the bones with an instrument
of silver, whereupon there issues a little oil, as though it were
a kind of sweating, which is neither like oil nor balm, but is very
sweet of smell ; and of that they give a little to the pilgrims,
for there issues but a small quantity of the liquor. They
next show the head of St. Catherine, and the cloth that she
was wrapped in, which is still all bloody. And in that same
cloth, so wrapped, the angels bore her body to Mount Sinai,
and there they buried her with it. They also show the bush
which burnt and was not consumed, in which our Lord spake
to Moses ; and they have many other relics. When the
prelate of the abbey is dead, I have been informed that his
lamp becomes extinguished. And when they choose another
prelate, if he be a good man and worthy to be prelate, his
lamp will light by the grace of G od, without being touched by
any man. For every one of them has a lamp for himself, and
by their lamps they know well when any of them shall die ;
for then the light begins to change and wax dim. And if he
be chosen to be prelate, and is not worthy, his lamp imme-
diately goes out. Other men have told me, that he that sings
the mass for the prelate that is dead finds written upon the
altar the name of him that shall be chosen prelate. One day
I asked several of the monks how this befel. But they would
not tell me, until I said that they ought not to hide the grace
that God did them, but that they should publish it, to make
the people have the more devotion, and that they sinned in
hiding God's miracle, as appeared to me. And then they told
me that it so happened often ; but more I might not have of
them. In that abbey no flies, toads, or lizards, or such foul
venomous beasts, nor lice, nor fleas, ever enter, by the miracle
of God and of our Lady ; for there were wont to be so many
such kind of pests, that the monks were resolved to leave the
place, and were gone thence to the mountain above, to eschew
that place. But our Lady came to them and bade them return ;
* Exod. iii. 5.
A.D. 1322.] MOUNTAIN OF ST. CATHERINE. 159
and since that time such vermin have never entered in and
place amongst them, nor never shall enter hereafter. Before
the gate is the well where Moses smote the stone from which
the water came out abundantly.
From that abbey you go up the mountain of Moses by many
steps ; and there is, first, a church of our Lady, where she
met the monks when they fled away from the vermin just
mentioned ; and higher up the mountain is the chapel of
Elijah the prophet, which place they call Horeb, whereof
holy writ speaks, " And he went in the strength of that meat
forty days and forty nights, unto Horeb, the mount of God.''^-^^
And close by is the vine that St. John the Evangelist planted ;
and a little above is the chapel of Moses, and the rock where
Moses fled for dread when he saw our Lord face to face. And
in that rock is imprinted the form of his body ; for he threw
himself so strongly and so hard on that rock that all his body
was buried into it, through the miracle of God f . And near it
is the place where our Lord gave to Moses the ten command-
ments of the law. And under the rock is the cave where
Moses dwelt when he fasted forty days and forty nights.
And from that mountain you pass a great valley, to go to
another mountain, where St. Catherine was buried by the
angels of our Lord ; in which valley is a church of forty
martyrs, where the monks of the abbey often sing. That
valley is very cold. Next you go up the mountain of St.
Catherine, which is higher than the mount of Moses ; and
there, where St. Catherine was buried, is neither church nor
chapel, nor other dwelling place ; but there is a heap of
stones about the place where her body was placed by the
angels. There was formerly a chapel there, but it was cast
down, and the stones lie still scattered about. And although
the collect of St. Catherine says that it is the place where
our Lord gave the ten commandments to Moses, and where
the blessed virgin St. Catherine was buried, we are to under-
stand this as meaning that it is the same country, or in a place
bearing the same name ; for both hills are called the mount
of Sinai ; but it is a great way from one to the other, and a
great deep valley lies between them.
* 1 Kings, xix. 8.
t This pretended imprint of Moses' body, and some of the other remark-
able things described by Maundeville, were still shown to visitors in the
earlier part of the last century.
160 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
Chapter YI.
OF THE DESERT BETWEEN THE CHURCH OP ST. CATHERINE AND JERUSALEM.
OP THE DRY tree; AND HOW ROSES FIRST CAME INTO THE WORLD.
After people have visited these holy places, they proceed
towards Jerusalem, having taken leave of the monks and
recommended themselves to their prayers. And then the
monks give the pilgrims victuals to pass the desert towards
Syria, which desert extends full thirteen days' journey. In
that desert dwell many of the Arabians, who are called
Bedouins and Ascopardes, who are people full of all evil con-
ditions, having no houses, but tents, which they make of the
skins of camels and other beasts that they eat ; and under
these they sleep and dw^ell, in places where they can find
water, as on the Red Sea or elsewhere ; for in that desert
there is great want of water, and it often happens that where
men find water at one time in a place, there is none at another
time; and for that reason they make no habitations there.
These people do not till the ground nor labour ; for they eat
no bread, except it be those wdio dwell near a good town, who
go thither and eat bread sometimes. They roast their flesh
and fish on the hot stones in the sun ; and they are strong
and warlike men, and there is so great a multitude of them
that they are without number. Their only occupation is to
hunt animals for their food. They care not for their lives,
and therefore they fear not the sultan nor any other prince ; but
dare to war with all princes who do them any grievance ; and
they are often at war with the sultaYi, as they were at the time
I was with him. They carry but one shield and one spear,
without other arms ; they wTap their heads and necks with a
great quantity of white linen cloth ; and they are right
felonious and foul, and of a cursed nature.
When you pass this desert, on the way to Jerusalem, you
come to Beersheba, w^hich w^as formerly a very fair and
pleasant town of the Christians, some of whose churches still
remain. In that town Abraham the Patriarch dwelt a long
time. It was founded by Beersheba (Bathsheba), the wife of
Sir Uriah, the knight, on whom king David begat Solomon the
Wise, who was king, after David, over the twelve tribes of Jeru-
salem, and reigned forty years. From thence we go to the city
of Hebron, a distance of two good miles ; it was formerly called
A.D. 13*22.] HEBRON; GJIAVES OF THE PATRIARCHS. 161
the Vale of Mamre, and sometimes the Vale of Tears, be-
cause Adam wept there a hundred years for the death of
Abel, his son, whom Cain slew. Hebron was the principal
city of the Philistines, and was inhabited some time by
giants. And it was a sacerdotal city, that is, a sanctuary,
of the tribe of Judah ; and was so free, that all manner of
fugitives from other places, for their evil deeds, were received
there. In Hebron, Joshua, Calephe, and their company,
came first to espy how they might win the Land of Promise.
Here king David first reigned, seven years and a half; and
in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years and a half. In
Hebron are all the sepulchres of the patriarchs, Adam,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and their waves. Eve, Sarah,
Eebecca, and Leah : which sepulchres the Saracens keep very
carefully, for they hold the place in great reverence, on ac-
count of the holy fathers, the patriarchs, that lie there. And
they suffer no Christian to enter that place, except by special
grace of the sultan ; for they hold Christians and Jews as
dogs, and say that they should not enter into so holy a place.
And they call that place where they lie Double Spelunk,
or Double Cave, or Double Ditch, because the one lies above
the other. And the Saracens call the place in their lan-
guage Karicarba, that is, the Place of Patriarchs. The Jews
call it Arbothe. And in that same place was Abraham's
house, and there he sat and saw three persons, and wor-
shipped but one : as Holy Writ saith, He saw three, and
worshipped one: and at tbe same place Abraham received the
angels into his house. Close by that place is a cave in the
rock, where Adam and Eve dwelt when they were put out
of Paradise, and there they begat their children. And in
that same place was Adam formed and made, as some men
say ; for they used to call that place the Field of Damascus,
because it was in the lordship of Damascus. And from
thence he was translated into Paradise, as they say; and
after he was driven out of Paradise he was left there. Here
begins the Vale of Hebron, which extends nearly to Jerusa-
lem. There the angel commanded Adam that he should
dwell with his wife Eve, on whom he begat Seth, of which
tribe Jesus Christ was born. In that valley is a field where
men draw out of the earth a thing they call cambylle, which
they eat instead of spice, and they carry it to sell. And
men may not make the hole where it is taken out of the
M
1.62 , SIR JOHN MAUNDEVJLLE. [a.D. 1322.
earth so deep or wide, but at the year s end it is full again
up to the sides, through the grace of God. .
Two miles from Hebron is the grave of Lot, Abraham's
brother. And a little from Hebron is the mount of Mamre,
from which the valley takes its name. And there is an oak
tree which the Saracens call dirpe, which is of Abraham's
time ; and people call it the dry tree. They say that it has
been there since the beginning of the world, and that it was
once green and bore leaves, till the time that our Lord died
on the cross, and then it dried; and so did all the trees
that were then in the world. And there is a prophecy, that
a lord, a prince of the west side of the world, shall win
the Land of Promise, that is, the Holy Land, with the help
of the Christians ; and he shall cause mass to be performed
under that dry tree, and then the tree shall become green and
bear both fruit and leaves. And through that miracle many
Saracens and Jews shall be converted to the Christian faith.
And, therefore, they do great worship thereto, and guard it
very sedulously. And although it be dry, still it has great
virtue ; for, certainly, he that hath a little thereof upon
him, it heals him of the falling evil, and his horse shall not
be afoundered ; and many other virtues it hath, on account of
which it is highly esteemed.
From Hebron we proceed to Bethlehem, in half a day,
for it is but five miles ; and it is a very fair way, by pleasant
plains and woods. Bethlehem is a little city, long and
narrow, and well walled, and on each side inclosed with good
ditches. It was formerly called Ephrata, as Holy Writ says,
*'Lo, we heard it at Ephrata. "^-^ And towards the east end
of the city is a very fair and handsome church, with many
towers, pinnacles, and corners strongly and curiously made ;
and within are forty-four great and fair pillars of marble.
And between the city and the church is the Field Floridiis,
that is to say, the field flourished; for a fair maiden was
blamed with wrong, and slandered, that she had committed
fornication, for which cause she was condemned to be burnt
in that place ; and as the fire began to burn about her, she
made her prayers to our Lord, that as truly as she was not
■ guilty, he would by his merciful grace help her, and make
it known to all men. And when she had thus said, she
* Psalms, cxxxii. 6.
A.D. 1322.] BETHLEHEM; THE THREE KINGS. 163
entered into the fire, and immediately the lire was extin-
guished, and the faggots that were burning became red rose-
bushes, and those that were not kindled became white rose-
bushes, full of roses. And these were the first rose-trees
and roses, both white and red, that ever any man saw. And
thus was this maiden saved by the grace of God. And
therefore is that field called the field that God flourished,
for it was full of roses. Also near the choir of the church, at
the right side, as men go down sixteen steps, is the place
where our Lord was born ; which is full well made of marble,
and full richly painted with gold, silver, azure, and other
colours. And three paces from it is the crib of the ox
and the ass. And beside that is the place where the
star fell, which led the three kings, Jaspar, Melchior, and
Balthazar: but the Greeks call them Galgalathe, Malga-
lathe, and Saraphie : and the Jews call them in Hebrew
Appelius, Amerrius, and Damasus. These three kings
offered to our Lord gold, incense, and myrrh ; and they met
together by a miracle of God, for they met together in a
city in India called Cassak, which is fifty- three days' from
Bethlehem, and yet they arrived at Bethlehem on the thir-
teenth day, which was the fourth day after they had seen the
star, when they met in that city ; and thus they were nine
days from that city to Bethlehem : and that was a great
miracle^. Also, under the cloister of the church, by eight-
teen steps at the right side, is the charnel-house of the
Innocents, v/here their bones lie. x\nd before the place
where our Lord was born is the tomb of St. Jerome, who
was a priest and cardinal, and translated the Bible and
Psalter from Hebrew into Latin ; and without the church is
the chair that he sat in when he translated it. And close by
that church, at a distance of sixty fathoms, is a church of St.
Nicholas, where our Lady rested after she was delivered of
our Lord. And forasmuch as she had too much milk in
her breasts, which grieved her, she milked them on the red
stones of marble ; so that the traces may yet be seen ail
white in the stones. And you must understand that all who
dwell in Bethlehem are Christians. And there are fair
vineyards about the city, and great plenty of wine, which the
* The medieval legendary history of the three kings will be found printed
at the end of the first volume of the " Chester Mysteries."
M 2
,164 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
Christians make. But the Saracens neither cultivate vines
nor drink wine ; for their books of their law, that Mohammed
gave them, which they call their Alkoran, (and some call it
Mesaphe, and in another language it is called Harme,) forbids
them to drink wine. For in that book Mohammed cursed all
who drink wine, and all who sell it. For some men say
that he slew once a hermit, whom he loved much, in his
drunkenness ; and therefore he cursed wine and them that
drink it. And also, the Saracens breed no pigs and they eat
no swine's flesh, for they say it is brother to man, and it was
forbidden by the old law ; and they hold all accursed who eat
thereof. Also, in the land of Palestine and in the land of
Egypt, they eat but little or no veal or beef, except when
the animal is old, that he may work no more ; for it is for-
bidden, because they have but few of them, and they keep
them to plough their lands. In this city of Bethlehem was
David the king born, and he had sixty wives ; and the first
wife was called Michal : and also he had three hundred
concubines.
From Bethlehem to Jerusalem it is but two miles. And
in the w^ay to Jerusalem, half a mile from Bethlehem, is a
church, where the angel announced to the shepherds the
birth of Christ. And in that way is the tomb of Rachel, the
mother of Joseph the patriarch, who died immediately after
she was delivered of her son Benjamin ; and there she was
buried by Jacob, her husband, and he caused twelve great
stones to be placed over her, in token that she had borne
twelve^ children. In the same way, half a mile from Jeru-
salem, the star appeared to the three kings. In that way
also are many churches of Christians, by which men. go
towards the city of Jerusalem.
Chapter VII.
OP THE PILGRIMAGES IN JERUSALEM, AND OF THE HOLY PLACES THEREABOUT.
Jerusalem, the holy city, stands full fair between hills ; and
there are no rivers or w^ells, but w^ater comes by conduit from
Hebron. And you must know that Jerusalem of old, until
the time of Melchisedek, was called Jehus ; and afterwards it
was called Salem, until the time of king David, who put these
* Rachel had but two children, Joseph and Benjamin ; but by them she
had twelve grandchildren. Gren. xlvi. 20 — 22.
A.D. 13Q2.] JERUSALEM. 165
two names together, and called it Jebusalem ; and after that
king Solomon called it Jerosoluma ; and after that it was
called Jerusalem, and so it is called still. Around Jerusalem
is the kingdom of Syria ; and there beside is the land of Pa-
lestine ; and beside it is Ascalon ; and beside that is the land
of Maritaine. But Jerusalem is in the land of Judea ; and
it is called Judea, because Judas Maccabeus was king of that
country. And it borders eastward on the kingdom of Arabia ;
to the south, on the land of Egypt ; to the west, on the great
sea; and to the north, towards Syria, on the sea of Cyprus.
In Jerusalem was formerly a patriarch, with archbishops and
bishops about in the country. Around Jerusalem are these
cities : Hebron, seven miles ; Jericho, six miles ; Beersheba,
eight miles ; Ascalon, seventeen miles ; Jaffa, sixteen miles ;
Eamatha, three miles; and Bethlehem, two miles. And two
miles from Bethlehem, towards the south, is the church of
St. Karitot, who was abbot there; for whom they made great
lamentation among the monks when he died ; and they continue
still in mourning in the manner that they made their lament-
ation for him the first time ; and it is very sad to behold.
This country and land of Jerusalem hath been in the hands of
many different nations, and often, therefore, hath the country
suffered much tribulation for the sin of the people that dwell
there. For that country hath been in the hands of all na-
tions ; that is to say, of Jews, Canaanites, Assyrians, Per-
sians, Modes, Macedonians, Greeks, Romans, Christians,
Saracens, Barbarians, Turks, Tartars, and of many other dif-
ferent nations ; for God will not let it remain long in the
hands of traitors or of sinners, be they Christians or others.
And now the heathens have held that land in their hands forty
years and more-^ ; but they shall not hold it long, if God will.
When men come to Jerusalem, their first pilgrimage is to
the church of the holy sepulchre, where our Lord was buried,
which is without the city on the north side ; but it is now
inclosed by the town wall. And there is a very fair church,
round, and open above, and covered in its circuit with lead ;
and on the west side is a fair and high tower for bells, strongly
made ; and in the middle of the church is a tabernacle, as it
were a little house, made with a little low door; and that
* Perhaps Maundeville reckons from the capture of Acre, in 1291, when
the Christians lost their last footing in the Holy Land. Jerusalem was finally
taken from the Christians by the Turks in October, 1244.
166 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVCLLE. [a.D. 1322.
tabernacle is made in manner of half a compass, right curiously
and richly made of gold and azure and other rich colours.
And in the right side of that tabernacle is the sepulchre of our
Lord ; and the tabernacle is eight feet long, and five wide,
and eleven in height ; and it is not long since the sepulchre
was all open, that men might kiss it and touch it. But be-
cause pilgrims that came thither laboured to break the stone
in pieces or in powder, therefore the sultan has caused a
wall to be made round the sepulchre, that no man may touch
it. In the left side of the wall of the tabernacle, about the
height of a man, is a great stone, the magnitude of a man's
head, that was of the holy sepulchre ; and that stone the
pilgrims that come thither kiss. In that tabernacle are no
windows ; but it is all made light with lamps which hang
before the sepulchre. And there is one lamp which hangs
before the sepulchre which burns bright; and on Good Friday
it goes out of itself, and lights again by itself at the hour that
our Lord rose from the dead. Also, within the church, at the
right side, near the choir of the church, is Mount Calvary,
where our Lord was placed on the cross. It is a rock of a
white colour, a little mixed with red ; and the cross was set in
a mortise in the same rock ; and on that rock dropped the
blood from the wounds of our Lord when he was punished on
the cross ; and that is called Golgotha. And they go up to
that Golgotha by steps ; and in the place of that mortise
Adam's head was found, after Noah's flood, in token that the
sins of Adam should be redeemed in that same place. And
upon that rock Abraham made sacrifice to our Lord. And
there is an altar, before which lie Godfrey de Boulogne and
Baldwin, and other Christian kings of Jerusalem ; and near
where our Lord was crucified is this written in Greek:
— that is to say, in Latin, " Deus Rex noster ante secula
operatus est salutem in medio terrse ;" in English, " God
our king, before the worlds, hath wrought salvation in the
midst of the earth." And also on the rock where the cross
was set is written, within the rock, these words : "o £i<^£u, eVt*
,/?ao-K T^J? ir'^rrr^-uq oKric, rov koct^ov tovtoV that is tO Say, in
Latin, " Quod vides, est fundamentum totius fidei hujus
mundi ;" in English, " What thou seest, is the ground of all
the faith of this world." And you shall understand that
when our Lord was placed on the cross he was thirty- three
A.D. 1322.] CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 167
years and three montlas old. Also, within Mount Calvary,
on the right side, is an altar, where the pillar lieth to which
our Lord Jesus was bound when he was scourged ; and there,
besides, are four pillars of stone that always drop water ; and
some men say that they weep for our Lord s death. Near
that altar is a place under earth, forty-two steps in depth,
where the holy cross was found by the wisdom of St. Helena,
under a rock, where the Jews had hid it. And thus was the
true cross assayed ; for they found three crosses, one of our
Lord, and two of the two thieves ; and St. Helena placed a
dead body on them, which arose from death to life when it was
laid on that on which our Lord died. And thereby, in the wall,
is the place where the four nails of our Lord were hid ; for he
had two in his hands and two in his feet ; aud of one of these
the emperor of Constantinople made a bridle to his horse, to
carry him in battle ; and through virtue thereof he overcame
his enemies, and won all the land of Lesser Asia, that is to
say, Turkey, Armenia the Less and the Greater, and from
Syria to Jerusalem, from Arabia to Persia, from Mesopotamia
to the kingdom of Aleppo, from Upper and Lower Egypt, and
all the other kingdoms, unto the extremity of Ethiopia, and
into India the Less, that was then Christian. And there were,
in that time, many good holy men, and holy hermits, of whom
the Book of Lives of Fathers ^^ speaks ; but they are now in the
hands of Pagans and Saracens. But when God Almight}^ will,
as the lands were lost through sin of the Christians, so shall
they be won again by Christians through help of God. And
in the midst of that church is a compass, in which Joseph of
Arimathea laid the body of our Lord when he had taken him
down from the cross ; and there he washed the wounds of our
Lord. And that compass, men say, is the middle of the
world f. And in the church of the sepulchre, on the north
side, is the place where our Lord was put in prison (for he
w^as in prison in many places) ; and there is a part of the
chain with which he was bound ; and there he appeared first
to Mary Magdalene when he was risen, and she thought that
he had been a gardener. In the church of St. Sepulchre
there were formerly canons of the order of St. Augustin, who
had a prior, but the patriarch was their head. And outside
* The Vitas Patrum was the most popular collection of saints' legends in
the middle ages.
f See before, pp. 4, 38.
168 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 132*2.
the doors of the church, on the right side, as men go upward
eighteen steps, is the spot where our Lord said to his mother,
"Woman, behold thy son!" And after that, he said to John
his disciple, "Behold thy mother ! "-i'^ And these words he
said on the cross. And on these steps went our Lord when
he bare the cross on his shoulder. And under these steps is
a chapel ; and in that chapel sing priests of India, not after
our law, but after theirs ; and they always make their sacra-
ment of the altar, saying Pater iioster, and other prayers
therewith, with which prayers they say the words that the
sacrament is made of ; for they know not the additions that
many popes have made ; but they sing with good devotion.
And near there is the place where our Lord rested him when
he was weary for bearing of the cross. Before the church of
the sepulchre the city is weaker than in any other part, for
the great plain that is between the church and the city. And
towards the east side, without the walls of the city, is the vale
of Jehoshaphat, which adjoins to the w^alls as though it W'cre a
large ditch. And over against that vale of Jehoshaphat, out
of the city, is the church of St. Stephen, where he was stoned
to death. And there beside is the golden gate, which m y
not be opened, by which gate our Lord entered on Palm Sunday,
upon an ass ; and the gate opened to him when he would go
unto the temple ; and the marks of the ass's feet are still seen
in three places on the steps, which are of very hard stone.
Before the church of St. Sepulchre, two hundred paces to the
south, is the great hospital of St. John, of which the Hospi-
tallers had their foundation. And within the palace of the
sick men of that hospital are one hundred and twenty-four
pillars of stone ; and in the walls of the house, besides the
number aforesaid, there are fifty-four pillars that support the
house. From that hospital, going towards the east, is a very
fair church, which is called Our Lady the Great ; and after it
there is another church, very near, called Our Lady the Latin ;
and there stood Mary Cleophas and Mary Magdalene, and tore
their hair, when our Lord was executed on the cross.
* John, xix. 26.
A.D. 1322.] THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM. 169
Chapter VIII.
OP THE TEMILE OP OUR LORD ,* THE CRUELTY OP KING HEROD; MOUNT
SION ; OF PROBATICA PISCINA, AND NATATORIUM SILOiE.
One hundred and sixty paces from tlie church of the Sepul-
chre, towards the east, is the temple of our Lord. It is a
very fair house, circular and lofty, and covered with lead, and
well paved with white marble ; but the Saracens will not
suffer any Christians or Jews to come therein, for they say
that no such foul sinful men should come into so holy a
place : but I went in there, and in other places where I
would, because I had letters of the sultan, with his great seal,
and other men have commonly but his signet. In these
letters he commanded, of his special grace, to all his sub-
jects, to let me see all the places, and to inform me fully of
all the mysteries of every place, and to conduct me from city
to city if necessary, and to receive me and my company
courteously, and obey all my reasonable requests if they were
not contrary to the royal power and dignity of the sultan or
of his law. x\nd to others, who have served him and ask him
grace, he gives only his signet, which they cause to be borne
before them, hanging on a spear, and the people of the
country do great worship and reverence to his signet or his
seal, and kneel thereto as lowly as we do to the procession of
the Host. But they show much greater reverence to his
letters, for the admiral, and all other lords to whom they are
shown, kneel down before they receive them, and then they take
them, and put them on their heads, and after they kiss them,
and then they read them, kneeling with great reverence ; and
then they offer themselves to do all the bearer asks. And in
this temple of our Lord were formerly canons regular, who
had an abbot to whom they were obedient. And in this temple
was Charlemagne, when the angel brought him the prepuce of
the circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ, which king Charles
caused to be brought to Paris, to his chapel ; and after that
he sent it to Poictiers, and after that to Chartres.
You must know that this is not the temple that Solomon
made, which lasted only one thousand one hundred and two
years. For Titus, the son of Vespasian, emperor of Rome,
had laid siege about Jerusalem to overcome the Jews, because
they put our Lord to death without the emperor's leave.
And when he had won the city, he burnt the temple and beat
ITO . SIE JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. |a.D. 1323.
it down and all the city, and took the Jews, and put to death
one million one hundred thousand of them ; and the others
he put in prison, and sold them to slavery thirty for a penny,
because they said they bought Jesus for thirty pennies ; and
he sold them cheaper, giving thirty for one penny. After
that, Julian the Apostate, when emperor, gave the Jews per-
mission to make the temple of Jerusalem, for he hated the
Christians although he had been christened ; but he forsook
his law, and became a renegade. And when the Jews had
made the temple, an earthquake came and cast it down (as
God would), and destroyed all that they had made. And
after that, Hadrian, who w^as emperor of Rome, and of the
lineage of Troy, rebuilt Jerusalem and the temple, in the
same manner as Solomon made it. And he would not suffer
Jews to dwell there, but only Christians. For although he
was not christened, yet he loved Christians more than any
other nation, except his own. This emperor caused the
church of St. Sepulchre to be inclosed within the city walls ;
before, it was without the city. And he would have changed
the name of Jerusalem, and called it ^Si^lia, but that name
lasted not long. The Saracens continue to show much reve-
rence to that temple, and say that the place is very holy.
And when they go in they go barefooted, and kneel many
times. And when my fellows and I saw that, when we came
in we took off our shoes, and entered barefooted, and thought
w^e would do as much worship and reverence there as any of
the misbelieving men, with as great compunction of heart.
This temple is sixty-four cubits wide, and as many in length,
and a hundred and twenty cubits high ; and within it has
pillars of marble all round ; and in the middle of the temple
are many high stages, fourteen steps high, with good pillars all
about, and this place the Jews call the holy of holies. No man,
except the prelate of the Saracens, who makes their sacrifice, is
allowed to come in there. And the people stand all about, in
divers stages, according to their dignity or rank, so that they may
all see the sacrifice. And in that temple are four entrances,
with gates of cypress, well made and curiously wrought.
Within the east gate is the place where our Lord said
" Here is Jerusalem." And on the north side of the temple,
within the gate, there is a well, but it does not run ; of this
Holy Writ speaks, and says, " I saw water come out of the
temple." And on the other side of the temple there is a
A.D. 1322.] THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM. 171
rock which men call Moriah, hut after it was called Bethel,
where the ark of God, with relics of Jews, was wont to be put.
That ark or hutch, with the relics, Titus carried with him to
Eome, when he had overthrown the Jews ; it contained the
ten commandments, Aaron's rod, and that of Moses, with
which he made the Red Sea divide as it had been a wall, on
the right side and on the left, while the people of Israel
passed the sea dry-foot. And with that rod he smote the
rock, and the water came out of it ; and with that rod he did
many other wonders. And therein was a vessel of gold, fall
ofmanna, and clothings, and ornaments, and the tabernacle of
Aaron, and a square tabernacle of gold, with twelve precious
stones, and a box of green jasper, with four figures, and eight
names of our Lord, and seven candlesticks of gold, and
twelve pots of gold, and four censers of gold, and an altar of
gold, and four lions of gold, which bare cherubim of gold
twelve spans long, and the circle of swans of heaven, with a
tabernacle of gold, and a table of silver, and two trumpets of
silver, and seven barley loaves, and all the other relics that
were before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Jacob
was sleeping upon that rock when he saw the angels go up and
down by a ladder, and he said, '* Surely the Lord is in this
place ; and I knew it not."^ And there an angel held Jacob
still, and changed his name, and called him Israel. And in
that same place David saw the angel that smote the people
with a sword, and put it up bloody in the sheath. And St.
Simeon was on that same rock when he received our Lord
into the temple. And in this rock he placed himself when
the Jews would have stoned him ; and a star came down and
gave him light. On that rock our Lord preached frequently
to the people ; and out of that same temple our Lord drove
the buyers and sellers. Upon that rock also our Lord set
him when the Jews would have stoned him ; and the rock
clave in two, and in that cleft was our Lord hid ; and there
came down a star and gave him light ; and upon that rock our
Lady sat and learned her Psalter ; and there our Lord forgave
the woman her sins that was found in adultery; and there our
Lord was circumcised; and there the angel gave tidings to
Zacharias of the birth of St. John the Baptist his son ; and
there first Melchisedek offered bread and wine to our Lord, in
* Gen. xxviii. 16.
m SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. ' [A.D. 1322.
token of the sacrament that was to come ; and there David
fell down praymg to our Lord, and to the angel that smote the
people, that he would have mercy on him and on the people ;
and our Lord heard his prayer, and therefore would he make
the temple in that place ; but our Lord forbade him, by an
angel, because he had done treason, when he caused Uriah,
the worthy knight, to be slain, to have Bathsheba, his wife ;
and therefore all the materials he had collected for the build-
ing of the temple he gave to Solomon, his son, and he built
it. Without the gate of that temple is an altar, where the
Jews were wont to offer doves and turtles. And betweeu the
temple and that altar vvas Zacharias slain. Upon the pinnacle
of that temple was our Lord brought to be tempted by the fiend.
And on the top of that pinnacle the Jews placed St. James,
who was first bishop of Jerusalem, and cast him down to the
earth. At the entry of the temple, towards the west, is the
gate that is called the Beautiful Gate. And near the temple,
on the right, is a church covered with lead, called Solomon's
school. And near the temple, on the south, is the temple of Solo-
mon, which is very fair and well polished. And in that temple
dwelt the knights of the temple, that were called Templars ;
and that was the foundation of their order ; so that knights
dwelt there, and canons regular, in the temple of our Lord.
One hundred and twenty paces from that temple to the east,
in the corner of the city, is the bath of our Lord ; and in that
bath water was wont to come from Paradise, and still it drop-
peth. And there beside is our Lady's bed. And fast by is
the temple of St. Simeon ; and without the cloister of the
temple, toward the north, is a very fair church of St. Anne, our
Lady's mother ; and there our Lady was conceived. And
before that church is a great tree, which began to grow the
same night. And under that church, in going down by twenty-
two steps, lies Joachim, our Lady's father, in a fair tomb of
stone ; and there beside lay sometime St. Anne his wife ; but
St. Helena caused her to be translated to Constantinople.
And in that church is a well, in manner of a cistern, which is
called Probatica Piscina, which hath five entrances. Angels
used to come from heaven into that well and bathe them in it,
and the man who first bathed after the moving of the water
was made whole of whatever sickness he had ; and there our
* Acts, iii. 2,
A.D. 1322.] HOLY PLACES IN JERUSALEM. 173
Lord healed a man of the palsy, with which he had lain
thirty-eight years; and our Lord said to him, "Take up thy
bed and go."* And near it was Pilate's house. And fast by
is king Herod's house, who caused the Innocents to be slain.
This Herod was excessively wicked and cruel ; for first he
caused his wife to be killed, whom he loved well ; and for the
great love he had to her, when he saw her dead, he fell in a
rage, and was out of his mind a great while ; and after he
recovered, he caused his two sons, whom he had by that wife,
to be slain ; and after that he killed another of his wives, and
a son that he had by her ; and after that he put to death his
own mother, and he would have slain his brother also, but he
died suddenly. And after he fell into sickness, and when he
felt that he should die, he sent for his sister, and for all the
lords of his land, and sent them to prison; and then he said to
his sister, he knew well that people would make no sorrow for
his death, and therefore he made his sister swear, that she
should cause all the heads of the lords to be struck off when
he was dead, that all the land might make sorrow for his
death. But his sister fulfilled not his will ; for as soon as he
was dead she delivered all the lords out of prison, and told
them all the purpose of her brother s ordinance ; and so this
cursed king was never made sorrow for. And you must know
that at that time there were three Herods, of great fame for
their cruelty. This Herod of which I have spoken was
Herod the Ascalonite ; and he that caused St. John the
Baptist to be beheaded was Herod Antipas ; and he that
caused St. James to be beheaded was Herod Agrippa; and he
put St. Peter in prison.
Furthermore, in the city is the church of St. Saviour, where
is preserved the left arm of John Chrysostom, and the greater
part of the head of St. Stephen. On the other side of the
street, to the south, as men go to Mount Sion, is a church of
St. James, where he was beheaded. And one hundred and
twenty paces from that church is Mount Sion, where there is
a fair church of our Lady, where she dwelt and died. And
there was formerly an abbot of canons regular. From thence
she was carried by the apostles to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
and there is the stone which the angel brought to our Lady
from Mount Sinai, which is of the same colour as the rock of
St. Catherine. And near there is the gate through which
* Matt. ix. 6.
IT4 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
our Lady passed, when she was with child, on her way to
Bethlehem. Also, at the entrance of Mount Sion is a cha-
pel in which is the great stone with which the sepulchre wds
covered, when Joseph of Arimathea had put our Lord therein ;
which stone the three Marys saw turned upward when they
came to his sepulchre the day of his resurrection; and there-
they found an angel, who told them of our Lord's resurrection
from death to life. There also, in a wall beside the gate, is
a stone of the pillar at which our Lord was scourged ; and
there was the house of Annas, who was bishop of the Jews
at that time ; and there our Lord was examined in the night,
and scourged, and smitten, and violently treated. In that same
place St. Peter forsook our Lord thrice before the cock crew.
There is a part of the table on which he made his Supper,
when he made his Maundy with his disciples, and gave
them his flesh and his blood, in form of bread and wine. And
under that chapel, by a descent of thirtj^-two steps, is the place
where our Lord washed his disciples' feet, and the vessel which
contained the water is still preserved; and there, beside that
same vessel, was St. Stephen buried. And there is the altar
where our Lord heard the angels sing mass. And there our
Lord appeared first to his disciples after his resurrection, the
doors being shut, and said to them, " Peace to you!" And on
that mount Christ appeared to St. Thomas the Apostle, and
bade him feel his wounds; and there he first believed, and
said, " My Lord and my God." In the same church, beside
the altar, were all the apostles on Whitsunday, when the Holy
Ghost descended on them in likeness of fire.
Mount Sion is within the city, and is a little higher
than the other side of the city ; and the city is strongest on
that side. For at the foot of Mount Sion is a fair and strong
castle made by the sultan. In Mount Sion were buried
king David and king Solomon, and many other Jewish kings
of Jerusalem. And there is the place where the Jews would
have cast up the body of our Lady, when the apostles carried
the body to be buried in the valley of Jehoshaphat. And there
is the place where St. Peter wept bitterly after he had for-
saken our Lord. And a stone's cast from that chapel is
another chapel, where our Lord was judged; for at that time
the house of Caiaphas stood there. One hundred and forty
paces from that chapel, to the east, is a deep cave under the
rock, which is called the Galilee of our Lord, where St. Peter
A.D. 13'22.j NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 175
hid himself when he had forsaken our Lord. Between Mount
Sion and the Temple of Solomon is the place where our Lord
raised the maiden in her father's house. Under Mount Sion,
towards the valley of Jehoshaphat, is a well called Natatorium
Silose (the pool of Siloah), where our Lord was washed after his
haptism; and there our Lord made the hlind man to see.
There was buried Isaiah the prophet. Also straight from
Natatorium Silose is an image of stone, and of ancient
work, which Absalom caused to be made, on account of which
they call it the hand of Absalom. And fast by is still the
elder tree on which Judas hanged himself for despair, when he
sold and betrayed our Lord. Near it was the synagogue, w^here
the bishops of the Jews and the Pharisees came together and
held their council, and where Judas cast the thirty pence
before them, and said that he had sinned in betraying our
Lord. And near it was the house of the apostles Philip and
James the son of Alpheus. On the other side of Mount Sion,
toward the south, a stone's cast beyond the vale, is Aceldama,
that is, the field of blood, which was bought for the thirty
pence for which our Lord was sold ; in which field are many
tombs of Christians; for there are many pilgrims' graves.
And there are many oratories, chapels, and hermitages, where
hermits used to dwell. A hundred paces toward the east is
the charnel-house of the hospital of St. John, where they used
to put the bones of dead tnen.
To the west of Jerusalem is a fair church, where the tree of
the cross grew. And two miles from thence is a handsome
church, where our Lady met with Elizabeth, when they were
both with child ; and St. John stirred in his mother's womb,
and made reverence to his Creator, whom he saw not. Under
the altar of that church is the place where St. John was born.
A mile from that church is the castle of Emmaus, where our
Lord showed himself to two of his disciples after his resur-
rection. Also on the other side, two hundred paces from
Jerusalem, is a church, where was formerly the cave of the
lion; and under that church, at thirt}^ steps deep, were
interred twelve thousand martyrs, in the time of king Cosrhoes,
that the lion met in a night, by the will of God. Tw^o miles
from Jerusalem is Mount Joy, a very fair and delicious place.
There Samuel the prophet lies, in a fair tomb ; and it is
called Mount Joy, because it gives joy to pilgrims' hearts, for
from that place men first see Jerusalem. Between Jerusalem
176 ^ SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322.
and Mount Olivet is the valley of Jehoshaphat, under the walls
of the city, as I have said before : and in the middle of the
valley is a little river, which is called the brook Cedron ; and
across it lies a tree (of which the cross was made), on which
men passed over ; and fast by it is a little pit in the earth,
where the foot of the pillar still remains at which our Lord
was first scourged ; for he was scourged and shamefully
treated in many places. Also in the middle of the valley of
Jehoshaphat is the church of our Lady, which is forty-three
steps below the sepulchre of our Lady, who was seventy-two
years of age when she died. Beside the sepulchre of our
Lady is an altar, where our Lord forgave St. Peter all his sins.
From thence, toward the west, mider an altar, is a well which
comes out of the river of Paradise. You must know that that
church is very low in the earth, and a part is quite within the
earth. But I imagine that it was not founded so ; but since
Jerusalem has often been destroyed, and the walls beaten down
and tumbled into the valley, and that they have been so filled
again, and the ground raised, for that reason the church is so
low within the earth. Nevertheless, men say there commonly,
that the earth hath so been cloven since the time that our
J^ady was buried there ; and men also say there, that it grows
and increases every day, without doubt. In that church were
formerly black monks, who had their abbot. Beside that
church is a chapel, beside the rock called Gethsemane, where
our Lord was kissed by Judas, and where he was taken by the
Jews ; and there our Lord left his disciples when he went to
pray before his passion,- when he prayed and said, " 0, my
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me."* And
when he came again to his disciples, he found them sleeping.
And in the rock within the chapel we still see the mark of the
fingers of our Lord s hand, when he put them on the rock when
the Jews would have taken him. And a stone's cast from
thence, to the south, is another chapel, where our Lord sweat
drops of blood. And close to it is the tomb of king Jehoshaphat,
from whom the valley takes its name. This Jehoshaphat was
king of that country, and was converted by a hermit, who was a
worthy man, and did much good. A bow-shot from thence,
to the south, is the church w^here St. James and Zachariah the
prophet were buried. Above the vale is Mount Olivet, so
* Matt. xxvi. 39.
A.D. 132'2.] MOUNT OLIVET AND MOUNT GALILEE. 177
called for the abundance of olives that grow there. That
mount is higher than the city of Jerusalem ; and therefore
from that mount v^e may see many of the streets of the city.
Between that mount and the city is only the valley of Jehosha-
phat, which is not wide. From that mount our Lord Jesus
Christ ascended to heaven on Ascension Day, and yet there
appears the imprint of his left foot in the stone. And there
is a church where was formerly an abbot and canons regular.
About twenty-eight paces thence is a chapel, in which is the
stone on the which our Lord sat when he preached the eight
blessings. And there he taught his disciples the pater noster,
and wrote with his finger on a stone. And near it is a church
of St. Mary, the Egyptian, where she lies in a tomb. Three
bow-shots thence, to the east, is Bethphage, whither our Lord
sent St. Peter and St. James on Palm Sunday to seek the ass on
which he rode into Jerusalem. In descending from Mount
Olivet, to the east, is a castle called Bethany, where dwelt
Simon the leper; and there he entertained our Lord; and
afterwards he was baptized by the apostles, and w^as called
Julian, and was made bishop; and this is the same Julian
to whom men pray for good entertainment, because our Lord
was entertained by him in his house. In that house our Lord
forgave Mary Magdalene her sins, and there she washed his
feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. And
there St. Martha w^aited upon our Lord. There our Lord
raised Lazarus, who w^as dead four days and stank. There
also dwelt Mary Cleophas. That castle is a mile from Jeru-
salem. Also in coming down from Mount Olivet is the place
where our Lord wept upon Jerusalem. And there beside is
the place where our Lady appeared to St. Thomas the apostle
after her assumption, and gave him her girdle. And very near
it is the stone on which our Lord often sat when he preached ;
and upon that same shall he sit at the day of doom, right as
he said himself.
After Mount OHvet is the Mount of Galilee, where the
apostles assembled when Mary Magdalene came and told
them of Christ's ascension. And there, between Mount
Olivet and the Mount of Galilee, is a church, w^here the angel
foretold our lady of her death. We next go from Bethany to
Jericho, which was once a little city, but it is now destroyed,
and is but a little village. Joshua took that city by miracle
of God, and destroyed it and cursed it, and all them that
179 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
should build it again. Of that city was Zaccheus, the dwarf,
who climbed up into the sycamore tree to see our Lord, be-
cause he was so little he might not see him for the people.
And of that city was Rahab, the harlot, who alone escaped
with her kinspeople ; and she often refreshed and fed the
messengers of Israel, and kept them from many great perils
of death ; and therefore she had good reward ; as holy writ
saith, " He that receive th a prophet in the name of a pro-
phet, shall receive a prophet's reward ;"^^ and so had she; for
she prophesied to the messengers, saying, " I know that the
Lord hath given you the land ;"f and so he did. From Be-
thany you go to the river Jordan, by a mountain, and through
a desert ; and it is nearly a day's journey from Bethany, to-
ward the east, to a great hill, where our Lord fasted forty
days. The devil carried our Lord upon that hill, and tempted
him, and said, " Command that these stones be made bread. "|
In that place, upon the hill, there was formerly a fair church, but
it is entirely destroyed, so that there is now but a hermitage,
occupied by a kind of Christians called Georgians, because
St. George converted them §. Upon that hill dwelt Abraham a
long while ; and therefore they call it Abraham's garden.
Between the hill and this garden runs a little brook of water,
which was formerly bitter, but, when blessed by the prophet
Elisha, it became sweet and good to drink. At the foot of
this hill toward the plain is a great well, which flows into the
river Jordan. From that hill to Jericho is but a mile, in
going toward the river Jordan, which is two miles beyond it ;
and half a mile nearer is a fair church of St. John the Bap-
tist, where he baptized our Lord ; and there beside is the house
of Jeremiah the prophet.
Chapter IX.
OF THE BEAD SEA, AND OP THE RIVEK JORDAN. OF THE HEAD OF ST. JOHN
THE BAPTIST, AND OF THE USAGES OF THE SAMARITANS.
From Jericho it is three miles to the Dead Sea. About
that sea groweth much alum and alkatran |1. Between
* Matth. X. 41. t Joshua, ii. 9. Ill Matth. iv. 3.
§ This is a very ingenious attempt at derivation, like some others found
in the book of Sir John Maundeville, who speaks again of the Georgian
Christians at the end of Chapter X.
II This word probably means bitumen. The Latin text has Dalem et
A.D. 1322.] THE DEAD SEA. 179
Jericho and that sea is the land of Dengadda, where formerly
bahn grew; but men cause the branches to be drawn up
and carried to Babylon, and still they call them vines of
Gady. On the coast of that sea, as w^e go from Arabia, is the
mount of the Moabites, where there is a cave which they call
Karua. Upon that hill Balak, the son of Boaz, led Balaam
the priest to curse the people of Israel. The Dead Sea divides
the lands of India and Arabia, and the sea reaches from Soara
to Arabia. The water of that sea is very bitter and salt, and
if the earth were moistened with that water it would never
bear fruit. And the earth and land changeth often its colour.
The water casteth out a thing that is called asphalt, in pieces
as large as a horse, every day and on all sides. From Jeru-
salem to that sea is two hundred furlongs. That sea is in
length five hundred and eighty furlongs, and in breadth one
hundred and fifty furlongs, and is called the Dead Sea, be-
cause it does not run, but is ever motionless. Neither man,
beast, nor anything that hath life, may die in that sea ; and
that hath been proved many times by men that have been
condemned to death, who have been cast therein, and left
therein three or four days, and they might never die therein,
for it receiveth nothing within him that breatheth life. And
no man may drink of the water on account of its bitterness.
And if a man cast iron therein, it w^ill float on the surface;
but if men cast a feather therein, it will sink to the bottom ;
and these are things contrary to nature. And there beside
grow trees that bear apples very fair of colour to behold ; but
when we break or cut them in two we find within ashes
and cinders, which is a token that by the wrath of God the
cities and the land were burned and sunk into hell. Some call
that sea the Lake Dasfetidee ; some, the River of Devils ;
and some the river that is ever stinking. Into that sea, by
the wrath of God, sunk the five cities, Sodom, Gomorrah,
Aldama, Seboym, and Segor, for the abominable sin that
reigned in them. But Segor, by the prayer of Lot, was saved
and kept a great while, for it was set upon a hill, and some
part of it still appears above the water; and men may see
the walls when it is fair and clear weather. In that city Lot
dwelt a little while; and there was he made drunk by his
dalhetram; the French, De alym et dCalhetran. This would almost lead
us to consider the French as the original text, from which the others were
translated.
N 2
180 SIE JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
daughters, and lay with them, and begat on them Moab and
Amon. The hill above Segor was then called Edom, but
afterw^ards men called it Seyr, and subsequently Idumea.
At the right side of the Dead Sea the wife of Lot still stands
in likeness of a salt stone, because she looked behind her
when the cities sunk into hell.
And you shall understand that the river Jordan runs into
the Dead Sea, and there it dies, for it runs no further; and
its entrance is a mile from the church of St. John the Bap-
tist, toward the west, a little beneath the place where Chris-
tians bathe commonly. A mile from the river Jordan is the
river of Jabbok, which Jacob passed over when he came
from Mesopotamia. This river Jordan is no great river, but
it has plenty of good fish ; and it cometh out of the hill of
Libanus by two wells, that are called Jor and Dan ; and of
those two wells it hath its name. It passes by a lake called
Maron ; and after, it passes through the sea of Tiberias and
under the hills of Gilboa; and there is a very fair valley on
both sides of the river. The hills of Libanus reach in length
to the desert of Pharan. And these hills separate the kingdom
of Syria and the country of Phoenicia. Upon these hills grow
cedar trees, that are very high, and bear long apples, as great
as a man s head. This river Jordan also separates the land of
Galilee and the land of Idumea and the land of Betron ; and
it runs under the earth a great way, unto a fair and great plain,
which is called Meldan, in the language of Sarmoyz ; that is to
say, a fair or market, in their language, because fairs are often
held in that plain. And there becomes the water great and wide.
That plain is the tomb of Job. About the river Jordan are
many churches, where many Christian men dwelt. And near
it is the city of Hay, which Joshua assailed and took. Also
beyond the river Jordan is the valley of Mamre, and that is a
very fair valley. Also upon the hill that I spoke of before,
where our Lord fasted forty days, two miles from Galilee, is
a fair and lofty hill, where the fiend carried our Lord, the
third time, to tempt him, and showed him all the regions of
the world, and said, "All this shall I give thee, if thou fall
down and w^orship me."
In going eastward from the Dead Sea, out of the borders
of the Holy Land, is a strong and fair castle, on a hill w^hich
is called Carak, in Sarmoyz ; that is to say. Royal. That
castle was made by king Baldwin, when he had conquered
A.D. 1322.J SAMARIA. 181
that land, who put it into the hands of Christians, to keep
that part of the country; and for that cause it was called the
Mount Royal ^^ ; and under it there is a town called Sobache ;
and there all about dwell Christians, under tribute. From
thence men go to Nazareth, of which our Lord beareth the
surname. And thence it is three days to Jerusalem : and
men go by the province of Galilee, by Ramoth, by Sodom,
and by the high hill of Ephraim, where Elkanah and Hannah,
the mother of Samuel the prophet, dwelt. There this pro-
phet was born ; and, after his death, he was buried at Mount
Joy, as I have said before. And then men go to Shiloh, where
the ark of God with the relics were long kept under Eli the
prophet. There the people of Hebron sacrificed to our Lord;
and there they yielded up their vows ; and there God first
spake to Samuel, and showed him the change of the order of
priesthood, and the mystery of the sacrament. And right
nigh, on the left side, is Gibeon^ and Ramah, and Benjamin,
of which Holy Writ speaketh. And after men go to Shechem,
formerly called Sichar, which is in the province of the Sama-
ritans ; and there is a very fair and fruitful vale, and there is
a fair and good city, called Neapolis, whence it is a day's jour-
ney to Jerusalem. And there is the well where our Lord
spake to the woman of Samaria ; and there was wont to be a
church, but it is beaten down. Beside that well k^ng Reho-
boam caused two calves to be made of gold, and made them
to be worshipped, and put the one at Dan and the other at
Bethel. A mile from Sichar is the city of Deluze, in which
Abraham dwelt a certain time. Shechem is ten miles from
Jerusalem, and is called Neapolis, that is to say, the new
city. And near it is the tomb of Joseph, the son of Jacob,
w^ho governed Egypt ; for the Jews carried his bones from
Egypt, and buried them there ; and thither the Jews go often-
time in pilgrimage, with great devotion. In that city was
Dinah, Jacob's daughter, ravished; for which her brethren
slew many persons, and did many injuries to the city. And
there beside is the hill of Gerizim, where the Samaritans
make their sacrifice : on that hill would x\braham have sacri-
ficed his son Isaac. And there beside is the valley of Dothan ;
* Mount Royal, which stood in the immediate neighbourhood of the
ancient Petra, was a place of some celebrity in the history of the crusades.
It was said to have been impregnable from the strength of its position ; and
it was only taken by Saladin, in 1187, by starving the garrison.
182 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
and there is the cistern wherein Joseph was cast hy his
brethren, when they sold him ; and that is two miles from
Sichar. From thence we go to Samaria, which is now called
Sebaste ; it is the chief city of that country, and is situated
between the hill of Aygnes in a similar manner to Jerusalem.
In that city was the sittings of the twelve tribes of Israel ;
but the city is not now so great as it was formerly. There
St. John the Baptist was buried, between two prophets, Elisha
and Abdias ; but he was beheaded in the castle of Macharyme,
near the Dead Sea; and after he was carried by his disciples,
and buried at Samaria : and there Julian the Apostate caused
him to be dug up, and burned his bones, and cast his ashes to
the wind. But the finger that showed our Lord, saying, "Be-
hold the Lamb of God ! " w^ould never burn, but is all whole ;
St. Tecla, the holy virgin, caused that finger to be carried to
the hill of Sebaste, and there men make great feast for it. In
that place was wont to be a fair church; and many others there
were, but they are all beaten down. There was wont to be
the head of St. John the Baptist, inclosed in the wall ; but
the emperor Theodosius had it drawn out, and found it wrap-
ped in a little cloth, all bloody; and so he carried it to Con-
stantinople ; and the hinder part of the head is still at Con-
stantinople ; and the fore part of the head, to under the chin,
is at Rome, under the church of St. Silvester, where are
nuns ; and it is yet all broiled, as though it were half burnt ;
for the emperor Julian above mentioned, of his wickedness
and malice, burnt that part with the other bones, as may still
be seen ; and this thing hath been proved both by popes and
emperors. And the jaws beneath, which hold to the chin,
and a part of the ashes, and the platter on which the head
was laid when it was smitten off, are at Genoa; and the Ge-
noese make a great feast in honour of it, and so do the Sara-
cens also. And some men say that the head of St. John is
at Amiens, in Picardy ; and other men say, that it is the head
of St. John the bishop. I know not which is correct, but
God knows; but however men worship it, the blessed St.
John is satisfied.
From this city of Sebaste unto Jerusalem it is twelve miles.
And between the hills of that country there is a well that
four times in the year changes its colour ; sometimes green,
sometimes red, sometimes clear, and sometimes troubled;
and men call that w^ell Job. And the people of that country,
A.D. 1322.] BTRTH OF ANTICHRIST. 183
who are called Samaritans, were converted and baptized by
the Apostles, but they hold not well their doctrine; and always
they hold laws by themselves, varying from Christian men,
from Saracens, Jews, and Pagans. The Samaritans believe
well in one God ; and they say that there is only one God,
who created all things, and judges all things ; and they hold
the Bible according to the letter, and use the Psalter as the
Jews do ; and they say that they are the right sons of God ;
and, among all other folk, they say that they be best beloved
of God, and that to them belongs the heritage that God pro-
mised to his beloved children ; and they have also a different
clothing and outward appearance from other people, for they
wrap their heads in red linen cloth, as a distinction from others ;
and the Saracens wrap their heads in white linen cloth ; and
the Christian men that dwell in the country wrap them in
blue of India, and the Jews in yellow cloth. In that country
dwell many of the Jews, paying tribute as Christians do.
Chapter X.
OF THE PROVINCE OP GALILEE, AND WHERE ANTICHRIST SHALL BE BORN.
OP NAZARETH. — OF THE AGE OF OUR LADY. OP THE DAY OF DOOM;
AND OP THE CUSTOMS OP JACOBITES, SYRIANS, AND GEORGIANS.
From this country of the Samaritans men go to the plains of
Galilee, and leave the hills on the one side. Galilee is one
of the provinces of the Holy Land ; and in that province are
the cities of Nain, and Capernaum, and Chorazin, and Beth-
saida. In this Bethsaida St. Peter and St. Andrew were born.
And four miles thence is Chorazin; and five miles from Cho-
razin is the city of Kedar, whereof the Psalter speaketh :
" I dwell in the tents of Kedar ^. In Chorazin shall Anti-
christ be born, as some men say; and others say he shall be
born in Babylon; for the prophet saith, "Out of Babylon
shall come a serpent that shall devour all the world." This
Antichrist shall be nourished in Bethsaida, and he shall reign
in Capernaum; and therefore saith Holy Writ, "Woe unto
thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! and thou, Caper-
naum."! And all these towns are in the land of Galilee;
* Psalms, cxx. 5.
f Luke, X. 13, 15. This is a curious example of the manner in which
legends were raised on the misapplication of Scripture by the medieval
184 SIK JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D 1322;
and also Cana of Galilee is four miles from Nazareth, of
■which city was Simon the Canaanite and his wife Cance, of
whom the holy Evangelist speaks : there our Lord performed
the first miracle at the wedding, when he turned water into
wine. And at the extremity of Galilee, on the hills, was the
ark of God taken ; and on the other side is Mount Hendor, or
Hermon. And thereabout goeth the brook of Kishon ; and
near there Baruch, who was son of Abimelech, with Deborah
the prophetess, overcame the host of Idumea, when Sisera
the king was slain by Jael, the wife of Heber, and Gideon
drove beyond the river Jordan, by strength of the sword, Zeba
and Zalmunna, and there he slew them. Also five miles from
Nain is the city of Jezreel, which was formerly called Zarim,
of which city Jezabel the wicked queen was lady and queen,
who took away the vineyard of Naboth by force. Fast by
that city is the field Mageddo, in which king Joras was
slain by the king of Samaria, and after was carried and buried
in Mount Sion. A mile from Jezreel are the hills of
Gilboa, where Saul and Jonathan, that were so fair, died;
wherefore David cursed them, as Holy Writ saith: "Ye moun-
tains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be
rain, upon you. "-J'- A mile from the hills of Gilboa, to the
east, is the city of Cyropolis, which was before called Bethsain ;
and upon the walls of that city was the head of Saul hanged.
After men go by the hills, beside the plains of Galilee, unto
Nazareth, which was formerly a great and fair city, but now
there is but a small village, and houses scattered here and
there. It is not walled, but it is situated in a little valley,
with hills all about. Here our Lady was born; but she
was begotten at Jerusalem ; and because our Lady was born
at Nazareth, therefore our Lord bare his surname of that town.
There Joseph took our J_jady to wife, when she was fourteen
years of age; and there Gabriel greeted our Lady, saying,
" Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with theef."
And this salutation was made on the site of a great altar of a
fair church that stood there formerly, but it is now all down ;
and they have made a little receptacle, near a pillar of that
church, to receive the ofierings of pilgrims. And the Sara-
cens keep that place full dearly, for the profit they have by
theologians, who, in this respect, closely resembled the Talmudists among
the Jews.
* 2 Sam. i. 21. f Luke, i. 28.
A.D. 1352.J A CHARM AGAINST THIEVES. 185
it ; and they are very wicked and cruel Saracens, and more
spiteful than in any other place, and have destroyed all the
churches. Near there is Gabriel's well, where our Lord
was wont to bathe, when he was young ; and from that well
he carried water often to his mother; and in that well she
often washed the clothes of her son Jesus Christ ; and from
Jerusalem thither is three days. Two miles from Nazareth
is the city of Sephor, by the v/ay that goes from Nazareth to
Acre. And half a mile from Nazareth is the leap of our
Lord ; for the Jews led him upon a high rock, to make him
leap down, and have slain him ; but Jesus passed amongst
them, and leaped upon another rock ; and the steps of his feet
are still to be seen in the rock where he alighted. And there-
fore men say, when in travelling they are in fear of thieves
or enemies, ^' Jesus autem transiens per medium illorum ihatf'
that is to say, " But Jesus passing through the midst of them,
went:" in token and remembrance that as our Lord passed
, through the Jews' cruelty, and escaped safely from them, so
surely may men escape the peril of thieves ; and then men
say two verses of the Psalter three times: ''Irruat super eos
formddo et j^ctvor, in magnitudine hrachii tui, Domine, Jiant
inmobiles, quasi lapis, donee pertranseat populus tuus, Domine ;
donee pertranseat populus tuus iste, quem possedisti.'' [" May
fear and dread fall upon them ; by the greatness of thine arm,
O Lord, let them be as still as a stone ; till thy people pass
over, 0 Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast pur-
chased."] And then men may pass without peril ^^. And you
shall understand, that our Lady had child when she was
fifteen years old; and she was conversant with her son thirty-
three years and three months. And after the passion of our
Lord she lived twenty-four years f.
* The foregoing passages of Scripture, repeated as directed in Latin, com-
posed, in fact, the common charm against thieves and robbers ; and our fore-
fathers seem to have had the simplicity to believe that, by a proper use of it,
they were actually under those circumstances rendered invisible. The quo-
tations are from Luke iv. 30; Exod. xv. 16. The latter is wrongly quoted
from the Psalter. The misinterpretation of the first passage (it was believed
that Jesus became invisible) appears to have arisen at a very early period.
+ There was an immense mass of legendary matter of this kind current in
the middle ages, with which it is necessary, in a certain degree, to be ac-
quainted, in order to understand the literature and manners of our forefathers*
It is to such legends that the old writers frequently allude when we suppose
that they are merely misquoting Scripture.
186 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322;
From Nazareth we go four miles to Mount Tabor, wliich is
a very fair and lofty hill, where was formerly a town and
many churches, but they are all destroyed ; but yet there is
a place, which they call the School of God, where he was wont
to teach his disciples, and told them the secrets of Heaven ^'.
At the foot of that hill Melchisedek, who was king of Salem,
met Abraham in the turning of the hill on his return from
the battle, when he had slain Abimelech ; and this Melchi-
sedek was both king and priest of Salem, which is now called
Jerusalem. On that hill of Tabor our Lord transfigured him-
self before St. Peter, St. John, and St. James ; and there they
saw in spirit Moses and Elias the prophets, and therefore St.
Peter said, " Lord, it is good for us to be here ; let us make
here three tabernacles." On that hill and in that same place,
at Doomsday, four angels shall blow with four trumpets, and
raise all men that have suffered death since the world was
created to life ; and they shall come in body and soul in
judgment, before the face of our Lord, in the valley of Je-
hoshaphat. And it shall be on Easter-day, the time of our
Lord's resurrection ; and the judgment shall begin on the
same hour that our Lord descended to hell and despoiled it ;
for at that hour shall he despoil the world, and lead his chosen
to bliss ; and the others shall be condemned to perpetual
punishment ; and then shall every man have after his desert,
either good or evil, unless the mercy of God exceed his
righteousness.
A mile from Mount Tabor is Mount Hermon, and there
was the city of Nain. Before the gate of that city our Lord
raised the widow's son. Three miles from Nazareth is the
castle of Saffra, of which were the sons of Zebedee and the
sons of Alpheus. Also, seven miles from Nazareth, is Mount
Cain, under which is a well, and beside that well, Lamech,
Noah's father, slew Cain with an arrow. For this Cain went
through briars and bushes as a wild beast ; and he had lived
from the time of Adam, his father, unto the time of Noah ;
and so he lived nearly two thousand years. And Lamech
was blind for old age f .
From Saffra we go to the sea of Galilee, and to the city of
* This is of course a little more legend. The notion that there was a town
on the summit of Mount Tabor is probably a mistake of our traveller.
f This legend arose out of an interpretation given to Gen. iv. 23, 24. See,
as an illustration, the scene in the " Coventry Mysteries," pp. 44-46,
A.D. 1322.] HOLY PLACES IN GALILEE. 187
Tiberias, which is situated upon that sea. And although they
call it a sea, it is neither sea, nor arm of the sea ; for it is but
a stank of fresh water, which is in length one hundred furlongs,
and in breadth forty furlongs ; and it hath in it great plenty
of good fish, and the river Jordan runs through it. The city
is not very great, but it has good baths. And where the river
Jordan leaves the sea of Galilee is a great bridge, where they
pass from the land of promise to the land of Bashan, and the
land of Gerrasentz, which are about the river Jordan and the
commencement of the sea of Tiberias. And from thence may
men go to Damascus in three days, by the kingdom of Tra-
conitis, which kingdom extends from Mount Hermon to the
sea of Galilee, or the sea of Tiberias, or the sea of Genne-
sareth, which are different names of this sea, or rather this
stank of which I have spoken, which changes thus its name
according to the names of the cities that are situated beside
it. On that sea our Lord went dryfoot ; and there he took up
St. Peter, when he began to sink in the sea, and said to him,
*' 0 thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? " * And
after his resurrection our Lord appeared on that sea to his
disciples, and bade them fish, and filled the net full of great
fishes. In that sea our Lord rowed oftentime ; and there he
called to him St. Peter, St. Andrew, and St. James and St. John,
the sons of Zebedee. In that city of Tiberias is the table on
which our Lord ate with his disciples after his resurrection;
and they knew him in breaking of bread, as the Gospel
saithf. And near the city of Tiberias is the hill where our
Lord fed five thousand persons, vdth five barley loaves and
tw^o fishes. In that city a man cast a burning dart in wrath
after our Lord, and the head smote into the earth, and waxed
green, and it grew to a great tree ; and it grows still, and the
bark thereof is all like coals. Also in the head of that sea
of Galilee, toward the north, is a strong and lofty castle,
called Saphor ; and close by it is Capernaum: there is not so
strong a castle within the land of promise ; and there is a
good town beneath, also called Saphor. In that castle St.
Anne, our Lady's mother, was born. And there, beneath, was
the centurion's house. That country is. called the Galilee of
the Gentiles, who were taken to tribute of Zebulon and Naph-
thali. And in returning from that castle, at a distance of thirty
* Matt. xiv. 31. f Luke, xxiv. 30.
188 . . SIR JOHN MAUNDEYILLE. [a.D. 1322.
miles, is the city of Dan, formerly called Belinas, or Cesarea
Philippi, situated at the foot of the mountain of Libanus,
where the river Jordan arises. There begins the land of
promise, and it extends unto Beersheba, in length from north
to south, and contains full one hundred and eighty miles ;
and in breadth, that is, from Jericho to Jaffa, it contains forty
miles of Lombardy, or of our country, which are also little
miles. These are not miles of Gascony, or of Germany,
where the miles are great miles.
And you must know that the land of promise is in Syria.
For the realm of Syria extends from the deserts of Arabia to
Cilicia, which is Armenia the Great, that is to say, from
south to north ; and from east to west it extends from the
great deserts of Arabia to the west sea. But in that realm of
Syria is the kingdom of Judea, and many other provinces,
as Palestine, Galilee, Little Cilicia, and many others. In
that country, and other countries beyond, they have a custom,
when they make war, and when men besiege a city or castle,
and they within dare not send out messengers with letters
from lord to lord to ask succour, of binding their letters to the
necks of pigeons, and letting them fly ; and the pigeons are so
taught, that they fly with those letters to the very place that
men would send them to. For they are fed in those places
where they are sent to, and they naturally return to where
they have been fed.
And you shall understand that amongst the Saracens, in
different parts, dwell many Christian men, of many kinds
and different names, and all are baptized, and have different
laws and different customs ; but all believe in God the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; but they always
fail in some articles of our faith. Some of these are called
Jacobites, because St. James converted them, and St. John
baptized them. They say that a man shall make his confes-
sion only to God, and not to a man ; for only to him should
man acknowledge himself guilty of all that he hath misdoue ;
and God ordained not, nor ever devised, nor the prophet
either, that one man should confess himself to another (as
they say), but only to God ; as Moses writeth in the Bible,
and as David saith in the Psalter Book, " I will confess to
thee, 0 Lord, in my whole heart:" and " I acknowledge my
sin unto thee:"^ and " Thou art my God, and I will confess
* Psalms, xxxii. 5.
CtXRTSTIAN SECTS IN THE EAST. 189
to tliee :" and " Since the thoughts of man shall confess to
thee," &c. For thev know all the Bible and the Psalter, and
therefore allege they so the letter ; but they allege not the
authorities thus in Latin, but in their language full openly ;
and say well, that David and other prophets say it. Never-
theless St. Austin, St. Gregory, and St. Hilary say dif-
ferently. And on such authorities, they say, that only to
God shall a man confess his faults, acknowledging himself
guilty, and crying him mercy, and promising him to amend ;
therefore when they will confess them, they take fire, and set
it beside them, and cast therein powder of frankincense ; and
in the smoke thereof they confess them to God, and cry him
mercy. And true it is, that this confession was first and of
nature ; but St. Peter the apostle, and they that came after
him, have ordered to make confession to man ; and by good
reason, for they perceived well, that no sickness was curable
by good medicine laid thereto, unless men knew the nature
of the malady ; and also no man may give fit medicine, unless
he know the quality of the deed.
There are others who are called Syrians, who hold the be-
lief among us and the Greeks ; and they all use beards, as
men of Greece do ; and they make the sacrament of unlea-
vened bread ; and in their language they use the Saracenic
letters, but in their theological mysteries they use Greek let-
ters ; and they make their confession as the Jacobites do.
There are others who are called Georgians, who w^ere con-
verted by St. George, and they worship him more than any
other saint, and to him they cry for help ; and they came out
of the realm of Georgia. These people have their crowns
shaven : the clerks have round crowns, and the laity have
their crowns all square ; and they hold the same Christian
doctrines as the Greeks, of whom I have spoken before-^.
There are others who are called Christians of the girdle,
because they are all girt above f; and there are others called
Nestorians; and some are Arians, some Nubians, some of
Greece, some of India, and some of Prester Johns land.
And all these have many articles of our faith, and in others
they differ from us.
* See before, p. 178.
t The khalif Motawakkel had, in a.d. 856, ordered the Christians and
Jews to wear a broad girdle of leather ; and they have continued to wear it
in the east till modern times. From that epoch the Christians of Syria, who
were mostly Jacobites or Nestorians, were called Christians of the girdle.
190 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 132S.
Chapter XT.
OF THE CITY OP DAMASCUS. — OF THREE WAYS TO JERUSALEM ; ONE BY LAND
AND BY sea; ANOTHER MORE BY LAND THAN BY SEA; AND THE THIRD
WAY TO JERUSALEM ALL BY LAND.
Now that I have told you of some of the people in the countries
before, I will turn again to my way to describe the road back.
From the land of Gralilee, of which I have spoken, men come
back to Damascus, which is a very fair and noble city, and full
of all merchandise, and three days from the sea, and five days
from Jerusalem. Men carry merchandise thither upon camels,
mules, horses, dromedaries, and other beasts ; and thither
come merchants by sea, from India, Persia, Chaldea, Armenia,
and many other kingdoms. This city was founded by Helizeus
Damascus, who was yeoman and steward to Abraham before
Isaac was born ; for he expected to have been Abraham's heir,
and he named the town after his surname, Damascus. And
in that place, where Damascus was founded, Cain slew Abel
his brother. And beside Damascus is Mount Seir, In that
city of Damascus there is great plenty of wells ; and within
the city and without are many fair gardens, with diversity of
fruits. No other city can be compared with it for fair gardens
for recreation. The city is great and full of people, and well
walled with double walls, and it contains many physicians ;
and St. Paul himself was there a physician, to keep men's
bodies in health, before he was converted ; and after that he
was physician of souls. And St. Luke the Evangelist was a
disciple of St. Paul to learn physic, and many others ; for St.
Paul held then a school of physic. And near Damascus he
was converted ; and after his conversion he dwelt in that city
three days, without sight and without meat or drink. And in
those three days he was raised to heaven, and there he saw
many secrets of our Lord. And close beside Damascus is the
castle of Arkes, which is both fair and strong. From Damascus
we return by our Lady of Sardenak, which is five miles on this
side of Damascus ; and it is seated upon a rock, and is a very
fair place, and appears like a castle, which it wai formerly;
but it is now a very fair church ; and in it are Christian
monks and nuns ; and there is a vault under the church where
Christians dwell also ; and they have many good vines. In
the church, behind the altar, in the wall, is a table of black
wood, on which formerly was painted an image of our Lady,
which turns into flesh ; but now the image appears but little.
A.D. 1322.] OTHEE WAYS TO JERUSALEM. 191
But evermore, through the grace of God, that table drops oil,
as it were of olive. And there is a vessel of marble under
the table, to receive the oil, of which they give to pilgrims ;
for it healeth many sicknesses. And he that keepeth it cleanly
a year, after that year it turneth into flesh and blood.
Between the city of Dark and the city of Raphane is a river,
which they call Sabatorye ; for on the Saturday ^^ it runs fast,
and all the week else it standeth still, and runs nought or
little. And there is another river that freezeth wonderfully
fast in the night, and by day no frost is seen. And so men
go by a city called Beruthe, on the coast of the sea, by which
they go to Cyprus ; and they arrive at the port of Sur, or
Tyre, and then to Cyprus. Or else men may go from the port
of Tyre right w^ell, and come not to Cyprus, but arrive at some
haven of Greece ; and then men come to this country by ways
that I bave spoken of before.
Now have I told you of ways by the which men go farthest
and longest, as by Babylon and Mount Sinai, and many other
places, through which lands men turn again to the land of
promise. Now I will tell you the direct way to Jerusalem ;
for some men will not pass it on account of the expense, or
because they have no company, or for many other reasonable
causes ; and therefore I will tell you briefly how a man may
go wdth little expense and in a short time. A man who comes
from the lands of the west, goes through France, Burgundy,
and Lombardy, and to Venice, and to Genoa, or some other
haven of the marshes, and taketh a ship there, and goes by
sea to the isle of Gryflle ; and so he arrives in Greece, or in
Port Moroche, or Valon, or Duras, or at some other haven,
and lands to repose himself, and goes again to the sea, and
arrives in Cyprus ; and comes not to the isle of Rhodes, but
arrives at Famagosta, which is the chief haven of Cyprus, or
else at Lamatoun, and then embarks again, and passes the haven
of Tyre without landing ; and so passes by all the havens of that
coast till he comes to Jafla, which is the nearest port to Jeru-
salem, for it is only seven- and-twenty miles. And from Jaffa
men go to the city of Ramla, which is but a short distance
thence, and it is a fair city. And beside Ramla is a fair
church of our Lady, where our Lord appeared to our Lady in
the likeness that betokeneth the Trinity. And there, fast by,
is a church of St. George, where his head was smitten off;
* It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that salhatum, or dies
sahbati, is the Latin for Saturday.
192 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a D. 1 3'22.
and then to tlie castle of Emmaus ; and then to Mount Joy ;
and from thence pilgrims may first see Jerusalem. And then
to Mount Modeyn, and then to Jerusalem. And at Mount
Modeyn lies the prophet Maccabeus. And over Ramatha* is
the town of Douke, whereof was Amos the good prophet.
Another way. Forasmuch as many men may not bear the
sea, but had rather go by land, although it be a more laborious
journey, a man shall so go to one of the havens of Lombardy,
Venice, or another; and he shall pass into Greece, through
Port Moroche or another, and so he shall go to Constantinople.
And he shall so pass the water called the Brace of St. George,
which is an arm of the sea ; and from thence he shall come to
Pulveralle, and thence to the castle of Cynople ; and from
thence he shall go to Cappadocia, which is a great country,
where there are many great hills. And he shall go through
Turkey, and unto the city of Nice, which the Turks have
taken from the emperor of Constantinople. It is a fair city,
and wonderfully well walled ; and there is a river that is called
the Laye ; and there men go by the Alps of Aryoprynant, and
by the vales of Mallebrynez, and also the vale of Ernax ; and
so to Antioch the Less, which is situated on the river Riclay.
And thereabout are many good and fair hills, and many fair
woods, and also wild beasts.
And he that will go by another way, must go by the plains
of Romania, coasting the sea. Upon that coast is a wonder-
fully fair castle, which they call Florathe. And when w^e are
out of those hills, we pass through a city called Maryoche and
Arteyse, where there is a great bridge over the river of Feme,
which men call Farfar ; and it is a great river, capable of ad-
mitting ships. And beside the city of Damascus is a river that
comes from the mountain of Libanus, which is called Albane.
At the passing of this river St. Eustache lost his two sons,
when he had lost his wife. And it goeth through the plain
of Arthadoe, and so to the Red Sea ; and so men go unto the
city of Phenne, and so to the city of Feme. Antioch is a
very fair city, and well walled ; it is two miles long, and each
pillar of the bridge there has a good tower ; and this is the best
city of the kingdom of Syria. And from Antioch men may go to
the city of Latuche (Latakij^ah), and then to Gebel (Jebili), and
then to Tourtous (Tortosa) ; and thereby is the land of Cambre,
* Ramali Gibeon, now El Jib. Douke is Ain Duk, the Greek Lmjc (see
Robinson, ii. 308, 309). It requires considerable study and research to
identify all the names mentioned by Maundeville in the sequel.
A.D. 13'22:l MANNERS OF THE TARTARS. 193
where there is a strong castle, which they call Maubeke. And
from Tourtous men go to Tripoli, on the sea ; and they go by sea
unto Acre. From this place there are two w^ays to Jerusalem ; on
the left we go first to Damas, by the river Jordan ; on the right
we go through the land of Flagam, and so to the city of
Caiphas (Caiffa), of which Caiaphas w^as lord ; and some call
it the Castle of Pilgrims. And from thence it is four days
to Jerusalem, passing through Cesarea Philippi, Jaffa, Kam-
leh, and Emmaus.
Now I have told you some of the ways by land and water,
how men may go to Jerusalem ; but there are many other
ways according to the countries from which they come. There
is one way, all by land, to Jerusalem, without passing any
. sea, which is from France or Flanders ; but that way is very
long and perilous ; and therefore few go that way. It lies
through Germany and Prussia, and so on to Tartary. This
Tartary is held of the great chan. of whom I shall speak more
afterwards ; and the lords of Tartary pay the great chan
tribute. This is a very bad land, and sandy, and bears very
little fruit; for there grows little corn, or wine, or beans, or
peas ; but there are plenty of cattle; and men eat nothing but
. flesh, without bread ; and they drink the broth, and also they
drink milk. And they eat all manner of animals, such as
dogs, cats, and rats. And they have little or no wood ; and
therefore they warm and boil their meat with horse-dung, and
cow-dung, and that of other beasts, dried by the sun; and
princes and others eat but once a day, and that but little ;
and they are very foul people, and of evil nature. And in
summer, in all these countries, fall many tempests, and
dreadful storms of thunder and lightning, which kill many
people, and beasts also. And the temperature passes sud-
denly from extreme heat to extreme cold. It is the foulest
country, and the most cursed, and the poorest, that men know.
And their prince, whom they call Batho, dwells at the city
of Orda. And truly no good man would dwell in that country ;
for it is not worthy for dogs to dwell in. It were a good
country to sow thistles, and briars, and broom, and thorns ;
and it is good for no other thing. There is some good land,
but very little, as men say. I have not been in that country ;
but I have been in other lands which border on those countries,
and in the land of Eussia, and in Nyflan, and in the realm of
Cracow, and Letto (Lithuania), and in Darestan, and in many
o
194 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
other places which border on those parts ; but I never went
by that way to Jerusalem, wherefore I cannot describe it from
personal knowledge ; for no man may pass by that way well,
except in time of winter, for the perilous waters and difficult
marshes, which no man may pass except it be strong frost, and
snow upon it ; for if the snow were not there, men might not
go upon the ice. And it is full three days of such way to pass
from Prussia to the inhabited land of the Saracens. And
Christians who shall war against them every year must carry
their victuals with them ; for they shall find no good there.
And they must carry their victuals upon the ice, with cars
that have no wheels, which they call sleighs ; and as long as
their victuals last they may abide there, but no longer ; for
there shall they find no body that will sell them any thing.
And when the spies see any Christian men coming upon them,
they run to the towns, and cry with a loud voice, " Kerra, kerra,
kerra;" and then anon they arm and assemble together.
And you shall understand that it freezeth more strongly in
those countries than in this part of the world ; and therefore
hath every man stoves in his house, and on those stoves they
eat and do their occupations all that they may ; for that is in
the northern parts, where there is but little sun ; and there-
fore in the very north the land is so cold that no man may
dwell there ; and, on the contrary, towards the south it is so
hot that no man may dwell there, because there the sun is
direct over head.
Chapter XII.
OP THE CUSTOMS OF THE SARACENS, AND OF THE LAW ,* AND HOW THE SULTAN
DISCOURSED TO ME, THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK; AND OF MOHAMMED.
Now since I have spoken of Saracens and of their country,
if you will know a part of their law and belief, I will tell
you, according to their book, which is called Alkoran. And
some call that book Meshaf; and some call it Harm, ac-
cording to the different languages of the country. This
book Mohammed gave them. In it, among other things, is
written, as I have often seen and read, that the good shall
go to Paradise, and the evil to hell ; and tbat all Saracens
believe. And if a man ask them what paradise they mean,
they say it is a place of delight, where men shall find all
kinds of fruit, in all seasons, and rivers running with milk
A.D. 132'2.] OPINIONS OF THE MOHAMMEDANS. 195
and honey, and wine and sweet water ; and they shall have
fair houses and noble, every man after his desert, made
of precious stones, and of gold and silver ; and every
man shall have eighty wives, all maidens ; and he shall
have intercourse every day with them, and still he shall
find them always maidens. Also they believe in and speak
gladly of the Virgin Mary and of the Incarnation. And
they say that Mary was taught of the angel ; and that
Gabriel said to her that she was chosen from the begin-
ning of the world ; and that he showed to her the in-
carnation of Jesus Christ; that she conceived, and bare a
child, remaining a maid; and that witnesseth their book.
And they say also that Jesus Christ spake as soon as he was
bom; and that he was a true and holy prophet in word
and deed, and meek, and pious, and righteous, and without
any vice. And they say also that when the angel showed
the incarnation of Christ unto Mary, she was young, and
had great fear. For there was then an enchanter in the
country that dealt with witchcraft, called Taknia, who by
his enchantments could take the likeness of an angel, and
went often and lay with maidens ; and therefore Mary feared
lest it had been Taknia, who came to deceive the maidens.
And therefore she conjured the angel that he should tell
her if it were he or no. And the angel answered and said
that she should have no dread of him; for he was a true
messenger of Jesus Christ. Also their book says that when
she had been delivered, under a palm tree, she had great
shame to have a child; and she moaned and said that she
would that she had been dead. And anon the child spake
to her and comforted her, and said, " Mother, have no fear,
for God hath hid in thee his secrets, for the salvation of
the world." And that book saith also that Jesus was sent
from God Almighty to be a mirror and example to all men.
And the Alkoran saith also, of the day of doom, how God
shall come to judge all people ; and the good he shall draw
on his side, and put them into bliss ; and the wicked he
shall condemn to the pains of hell. And they say that
among all prophets Jesus was the most excellent and the
most worthy, and that he made the Gospels, in which
is good and healthful doctrine, full of charity and stedfast-
ness, and true preaching to them that believe in God ; and
that he was a true prophet, and more than a prophet ; and
o 2
i96 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
lived without sin, and gave sight to the blind, and healed the
lepers, and raised dead men, and ascended to heaven. They
fast a whole month in the year, eating only by night ; and
they keep from their wives all that month ; but the sick
are not bound to that fast. Also this book speaks of the
Jews, and says they are cursed, because they would not be-
lieve that Jesus Christ was come of God ; and that they
lied falsely on Mary and her son Jesus Christ, saying that
they had crucified Jesus the son of Mary ; for he was never
crucified, as they say, but God made him ascend to him
without death ; but he transfigured his likeness into Judas
Iscariot, and him the Jews crucified, believing that it had
been Jesus ; and therefore they say that the Christian men err,
and have no good knowledge of this, and that they believe
falsely that Jesus Christ was crucified. And they say also,
that if he had been crucified, God had acted contrary to his
righteousness, to suffer Jesus Christ, who was innocent, to be
put upon the cross without guilt. And they say that we
err in this article, and that the great righteousness of God
might not suffer so great a wTong. They acknowledge that
the works of Christ are good, and his words and his deeds and
his doctrine by his gospels true, and his miracles also true;
and the blessed Virgin Mary was a good and holy maiden be-
fore and after the birth of Jesus Christ ; and that all those
that believe perfectly in God shall be saved. And because
they go so nigh our faith, they are easily converted to Christian
law, when men preach to them and show them distinctly
the law of Jesus Christ, and tell them of the pi'ophecies.
And also they say that they know well by the prophecies
that the law of Mohammed shall fail as the law of the Jews
did ; and that the law of Christian people shall last to the
day of doom. And if any man ask them what is their be-
lief, they answer thus: "We believe in God, creator of
heaven and earth, and all other things that he made. And
without him is nothing made. And we believe in the day
of doom, and that every man shall have his merit accord-
ing to his desert. And we hold for true all that God
hath said by the mouths of his prophets." Also Mohammed
commanded, in his Alkoran, that every man should have
two wives, or .tbree or four ; but now they take as many as
nine, and of lemans as many as a man may support. And
if any one of their wives misbehave against her husband,
A.D. 132-2.] OPINIONS OF THE MOHAMMEDANS. 1Q7
he may cast her out of his house, and part from her and
take another; but he shall share with her his goods. Also
when men speak to them of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Ghost, they say that they he three per-
sons, but not one God. For their Alkoran speaketh not
of the Trinity. But they say well that God hath speech,
and they know well God hath a spirit ; for else, they say,
he could not be alive. And when men speak to them of
the incarnation, how by the word of the angel God sent
his wisdom into earth, and shadowed him in the Virgin Mary;
and by the word of God shall .the dead be raised at the day
of doom; they say that it is true, and that the word of
God hath great power. And they say that whoso knew not
the word of God, he should not know God. And they say
also, that Jesus Christ is the word of God, and so saith their
Alkoran, where it saith that the angel spake to Mary and
said, "Mary, God shall preach the gospel by the word of
his mouth, and his name shall be called Jesus Christ."
And they say also that Abraham was friend to God, and
that Moses spoke familiar with God; and Jesus Christ w^as
the word and the spirit of God ; and that Mohammed was the
messenger of God. And they say that of these four Jesus
was the most worthy, and the most excellent and the greatest :
so that they have many good articles of our faith, although
they they have no perfect law and faith as Christian men
have, and therefore they are easily converted, especially
those that understand the scriptures and the prophecies.
For they have the gospels, and the prophecies, and the bible
written in their language. Wherefore they know much of
Holy Writ, but they understand it not but after the letter ;
and so do the Jews, for they understand not the letter spiritu-
ally, but carnally, and therefore be they reproved by the
wise, who understand it spiritually.
The Saracens say that the Jews are cursed, because they
have defiled the law that God sent them by Moses. And
the Christians are cursed also, as they say, for they keep not
the commandments and the precepts of the Gospel, which
Jesus Christ gave them. And, therefore, I shall tell
you what the sultan said to me one day, in his chamber. He
sent out of his chamber all men, lords and others, because he
would speak with me in counsel. And there he asked me how^
the Christian men governed themselves in our country ? And
198 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 13Q2.
I answered, " Riglit well; thanked be God." And he said
to me, "Truly, nay; for you Christians care not how un-
truly you serve God. You should set an example to the
common people to do well, and you set them an example of
doing evil. For the commons, upon festival days, when they
should go to church to serve God, go to taverns, and are
there in gluttony all day and night, and eat and drink as
beasts that have no reason, and know not when they have
enough. And also, the Christians encourage one another, in
all ways that they may, to fight, and to deceive one another.
And they are so proud that they know not how to be clothed ;
now long, now short, now straight, now large, now with sword,
now with dagger, and in all manner of guises. They should be
simple, meek, and true, and full of alms-deeds, as Jesus was,
in whom they believe ; but they are all the contrary, and ever
inclined to evil, and to do evil. And they are so covetous, that
for a little silver they sell their daughters, their sisters, and
their own wives, to put them to lechery. And one seduces
the wife of another, and none of them holdeth faith to
another ; but they break their law, that Jesus Christ gave
them to keep for their salvation. And thus, for their sins,
have they lost all this land which we hold. Because, for their
sins here, God hath given them into our hands ; not only by
our power, but for their sins. For we know well in very truth,
that when you serve God, God will help you ; and when he is
with you, no man may be against you. And that know we well
by our prophecies, that the Christians ^hall win again this land
out of our hands when they serve God more devoutly. But as
long as they are of foul and unclean living (as they are now),
we have no dread of them, for their God will not help them."-'-
And then I asked him how he knew the state of the Christians ?
And he answered me, " That he knew all the state of the
commons also, by his messengers, whom he sent to all lands,
in guise of merchants of precious stones, cloths of gold, and
other things, to know the manners of every country amongst
Christians. And then he called in all the lords that he had
sent out of his chamber, and he showed me four who were
great lords, who told me of my country, and of many other
* "We must take this as a little satire of Sir John Maundeville's against the
vices of the day among his own countrymen ; and it seems not to have been
without its effect. There is an English metrical version of it in the ^' Keliquise
Antiquae," ii. 113.
A.D. 1322.] ACCOUNT OF MOHAMMED. 199
Christian countries, as well as if they had been of the same
country; and they spoke French perfectly well, and the
sultan also, whereof J. had great marvel. Alas ! it is great
slander to our faith and to our law, when people that are
without law shall reprove us of our sins. And they that
should be converted to Christ and to the law of Jesus by
our good examples and by our acceptable life to God, and
so converted to the law of Jesus Christ, are through our
wickedness and evil living, far from us, and strangers from
the holy and true belief shall thus accuse us and hold us
for wicked livers and accursed. And indeed they say truth.
For the Saracens are good and faithful, and keep entirely
the commandment of the holy book Alkoran, which God
sent them by his messenger Mohammed ; to whom, as they
say, St. Gabriel the angel often told the will of God.
And you shall understand that Mohammed was born in
Arabia, and was first a poor boy that kept camels which went
with merchants for merchandise ; and so it happened that he
went with the merchants into Egypt. And in the deserts of
Arabia he went into a chapel where a hermit dwelt; and
when he entered into the chapel, w^hich was but little and
low, and had a small low door, then the entrance became so
great, and so large, and so high, as though it had been of a
great minster, or the gate of a palace. And this was the
first miracle, the Saracens say, that Mohammed did in his
youth. Then he began to wax wdse and rich ; and he was a
great astronomer ; and afterwards he was governor and prince
of the land of Cozrodane, which he governed full wisely ; in
such manner that, when the prince was dead, he took his
lady, named Gadrige, to wife. And Mohammed fell often in
the great sickness called the falling evil, wherefore the lady
was sorry that ever she took him to husband. But Mohammed
made her believe that when he fell so Gabriel the angel
came to speak with him, and for the great brightness of the
angel he might not help falling. And therefore the Sara-
cens say that Gabriel came often to speak with him. This
Mohammed reigned in Arabia in the year of our Lord Jesus
Christ 610; and was of the generation of Ishmael, who was
Abraham s son, by Agar, his chambermaid. And, therefore,
there are Saracens that are called Ishmaelites ; and some are
called Agarenes, of Agar; and others are called Saracens, of
Sarah ; and some are called Moabites, and some Ammonites,
from the two sons of Lot, Moab and Ammon, whom he begat on
300 SIE JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
Ms daughters, and who were afterwards great earthly princes.
And also Mohammed loved well a good hermit, who dwelt in
the desert a mile from Mount Sinai, in the way from Arabia
towards Chaldea and towards India, one day's journey from
the sea, where the merchants of Venice come often for mer-
chandise. And so often went Mohammed to this hermit that
all his men were angry; for he would gladly hear this hermit
preach, and make his men wait all night, and therefore his
men thought to put the hermit to death : and so it befel
upon a night that Mohammed was drunk with good wine, and
he fell asleep ; and his men took Mohammed's sword out of his
sheath, while he slept, and therewith they slew the hermit,
and put his sword, all bloody, in his sheath again. And on
the morrow, when he found the hermit dead, he was very
wroth, and would have put his men to death; but they all
V7ith one accord said that he himself had slain him when he
was drunk, and showed him his sword all bloody; and he
believed that they said truth. And then he cursed the wine
and all those that drink it. And therefore Saracens that
be devout never drink wine ; but some drink it privately ;
for if they drank it openly they would be reproved. But
they drink good beverage, and sweet and nourishing, which is
made of galamelle; and that is what men make sugar of,
which is of right good savour, and it is good for the breast.
Also it happens sometimes that Christians become Saracens,
either from poverty or from ignorance, or else from their
own wickedness. And therefore the archiflamen, or the
flamen, as our archbishop or bishop, when he receives them,
says. La ellec sila, Machomete rores alia ; that is to say, There
is no God hut one, and Mohammed his messenger ^^.
Chapter XIII.
op albania and of lybia. — op the wishings por watching op the
sparrow-hawk; and op noah's ship.
Now, since I have told you before of the Holy Land, and of
thait country about, and of many ways to go to that land, and
to Mount Sinai, and of Babylon the Greater and the Less,
* The foregoing account of Mohammed and his doctrines is of course full of
error and prejudice ; but it is curious, as showing the popular notions on the
subject in England and France in the fourteenth century, and may be com-
pared with several other popular tracts of that age. The Koran had been
translated into Latin as early as the twelfth century. An account very similar
to the above is given by Roger of Wendover (Bohn's Antiq. Lib.).
A.D. 1822.] COUNTRIES BEYOND PALESTINE. J201
and other places, now is the time, if it please you, to tell you
of the borders and isles, and divers beasts, and of various
peoples beyond these borders. For in the countries beyond
are many divers countries, and many great kingdoms, that
are separated by the four streams that come from terrestrial
Paradise. For Mesopotamia, and the kingdom of Chaldea,
and Arabia, are between the two "rivers of Tigris and Eu-
phrates. And Media and Persia are between the rivers of
Nile and Tigris. And Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia are
between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea, which
sea extends in length from Marok, on the sea of Spain, to
the great sea, so that it lasts beyond Constantinople three
thousand and forty Lombard miles. Towards the Ocean
Sea, in India, is the kingdom of Scythia, which is inclosed
with mountains ; and after, below Scythia, from the Caspian
Sea to the river Thainy, is Amazonia, or the land of Feminy,
where there is no man, but only women. And after is
Albania, a full great realm ; so called because the people
are whiter there than in other countries thereabout. And
in that country are so great and strong dogs, that they assail
lions and slay them. And then after is Hircania, Bactria,
Iberia, and many other kingdoms. And between the Eed
Sea and the Ocean Sea, towards the south, is the kingdom
of Ethiopia, and Lybia the Higher. Which land of Lybia
(that is to say, Lower Lybia) commences at the sea of Spain,
from thence where the Pillars of Hercules are, and extends
to Egypt and towards Ethiopia. In that country of Lybia
the sea is higher than the land, and it seems that it would
cover the earth, and yet it passeth not its bounds. And
men see in that country a mountain to which no man
Cometh. In this land of Lybia, w^hoso turneth towards the
east, the shadow of himself is on the right side, and here, in
our country, the shadow is on the left side. In that sea
of Lybia is no fish, for they may not live for the great heat
of the sun ; because the water is ever boiling for the great
heat. And many other lands there are that it were too long
to tell or to number; but of some parts I shall speak more
plainly hereafter.
Whoever will go towards Tartary, Persia, Chaldea, and
India, must enter the sea at Genoa, or at Venice, or at some
other haven that I have mentioned before, and then pass the
sea and arrive at Trebizond, which is a good city; and it was
202l sir JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
wont to be the haven of Pountz (Pontus). There is the haven
of Persians and of Medians, and of the countries beyond.
In that city lieth St. Athanasius, who was bishop of Alex-
andria, and made the psalm Quicimque vult^^-. This Atha-
nasius was a great doctor of divinity ; and because he
preached and spake so deeply of divinity and of the godhead,
he was accused to the pope of Eome of being a heretic;
wherefore the pope sent after him, and put him in prison,
and while he was in prison he made that psalm, and sent it
to the pope, and said, that if he were a heretic that was his
heresy ; for that, he said, was his belief. And when the pope
saw it, and had examined it that it was perfect and good, and
verily our faith and our belief, he set him at liberty, and
commanded that psalm to be said every day at j^^^ayer ; and
so he held Athanasius a good man. But he would never go
to his bishopric again, because he had been accused of heresy.
Trebizond was formerly held by the emperor of Constanti-
nople ; but a great man, whom he sent to keep the country
against the Turks, usurped the land and held it to himself,
and called himself emperor of Trebizond f.
And from thence men go through Little Ermony (Armenia),
in which is an old castle, on a rock, called the castle of the
Sparrow-hawk. It is beyond the city of Lay ays (Lajazzo), be-
side the town of Pharsipee, which belongs to the lordship of
Cruk, a rich lord and a good Christian. There is found a
sparrow-hawk upon a fair perch, and a fair lady of fairie, who
keeps it ; and whoever mil watch that sparrow-hawk seven days
and seven nights, and, as some men say, three days and three
nights, without company and without sleep, that fair lady
shall give him, when he hath done, the first wish that he will
wish of earthly things ; and that hath been proved oftentimes.
And once a king of Ermony, who was a worthy knight and
brave man, and a noble prince, watched that hawk some time ;
and at the end of seven days and seven nights the lady came
to him, and bade him wish, for he had well deserved it ; and
he answered that he was a great lord enough, and well in
peace, and had enough of worldly riches ; and therefore he
would wish no other thing but the body of that fair lady, to
* ^. e. The Athanasian Creed.
f A Christian dynasty reigned over the small independent kingdom of
Trebizond from 1204 to 1462^ after which it was swallowed up in the
Ottoman empire.
A.D. 1322.] THE LADY AND THE HAWK. 203
have at his will. And she answered him, that he knew not
what he asked, and said that he was a fool to desire what he
might not have ; for she said that he should only ask an
earthly thing ; and she was no earthly thing, but a spiritual
thing. And the king said that he would ask no other thing.
And the lady answered, " Since I may not withdraw you from
your lewd boldness, I shall give you without wishing, and to
all that shall come of you. Sir king, you shall have war
without peace, and always, to the ninth degree, you shall be
in subjection to your enemies, and you shall be in need of all
goods." And since that neither the king of Ermony nor the
country were ever in peace or rich ; and they have since been
always under tribute to the Saracens. x\t another time the
son of a poor man watched the hawk, and wished that he
might have good success, and be fortunate in merchandise.
And the lady granted it him, and he became the richest and
most famous merchant that might be on sea or on land ; and
he became so rich that he knew not one-thousandth part of
what he had; and he was wiser in wishing than the king.
Also a knight of the temple watched there, and wished a
purse ever full of gold ; and the lady granted him ; but she
told him that he had asked the destruction of the order ; for
the trust of that purse, and for the great pride that they
should have ; and so it was. And therefore let him who
watches beware ; for if he sleep he is lost, that never man
shall see him more. This is not the direct way to go to the
parts that I have mentioned before, but to see the marvel of
which I have spoken.
And, therefore, whoever will go the direct way must proceed
from Trebizond towards Ermony the Great, to a city called Arty-
roun (Erzeroum), which was formerly a good and populous city,
but the Turks have greatly wasted it. Thereabout grows little
or no wine or fruit. In this land the earth is higher than in
any other ; and that makes it very cold. And there are many
good waters and good wells, that come under earth from the
river of Paradise, which is called Euphrates, which is a day's
journey from this city. And that river comes towards India,
under earth, and reappears in the land of Altazar. And so
men pass by this Ermony, and enter the sea of Persia. From
that city of Artyroun men go to a mountain called Sabissocolle ;
and there beside is another mountain called Ararat, but the
Jews call it Taneez. where Noah's ship rested, and still is upon
2041 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
that mountain ; and men may see it afar in clear weather.
That mountain is full seven miles high ; and some men say
that' they have seen and touched the ship, and put their
fingers in the parts where the devil went out, when Noah said
*' Benedicite."'!' But they that say so speak without know-
ledge ; for no one can go up the mountain for the great
abundance of snow which is always on that mountain, both
summer and winter, so that no man ever went up since the
time of Noah, except a monk, who, by God's grace, brought
one of the planks down, which is yet in the monastery at the
foot of the mountain. And beside is the city of Dayne, which
was founded by Noah, near which is the city of Anyf, in which
were one thousand churches. This monk had great desire to
go up that mountain ; and so upon a day he went up ; and
w^hen he had ascended the third part of the mountain he was
so weary that he fell asleep ; and when he awoke he found
himself lying at the foot of the mountain. Then he prayed
devoutly to God that he would suffer him to go up ; and an
angel came to him, and said that he should go up ; and so he
did. And since that time no one ever went up ; wherefore
men should not believe such words.
From that mountain we go to the city of Thauriso (Tabreez),
which was formerly called Taxis, a very fair and great city,
and one of the best in the world for merchandise ; and it is
in the land of the emperor of Persia. And they say that the
emperor receives more in that city for custom of merchan-
dise than the richest Christian king alive from all his realm ;
for the toll and custom of his merchants is beyond calcu-
lation. Beside that city is a hill of salt, of which every man
taketh what he will. There dwell many Christians under
tribute of Saracens. And from that city men pass by many
towns and castles, on the way towards India to the city of
Sadony, which is ten days from Thauriso ; and it is a very
noble and great city. And there the emperor of Persia
dwells in summer, because the climate is temperate. And
there are good rivers capable of bearing ships. Then men
go the way towards India for many days, and by many coun-
* This is an allusion to another medieval religious legend.
f An account of the remarkable ruins, both ecclesiastical and palatial,
that are met with at Anni, which was the capital of the Pakradian branch
of Armenian kings, will ^ be found in the Travels of Sir R. K. Porter, and
those of W. J. Hamilton, vol. i. p. 197.
A.D. 1322.] . THE LAND OF JOB. 205
tries, to the city called Cassak, a full noble city, abound-
ing in corn, wines, and all other goods. This is the city
where the three kings met together when they went to seek
our Lord in Bethlehem, to w^orship him, and to present him
with gold, essence, and myrrh. And it is from that city
to Bethlehem fifty- three days. From that city men go to an-
other city, called Bethe (Beth-Germa? or Old Bagdad), a day
from the sea which they call the Sandy Sea. This is the best
city which the emperor of Persia has in all his land, and it is
called there Chardabago ; and others call it Yapa. And the
Pagans say that no Christian may remain long alive in that
city; but they die within short time, and no man knows the
:cause. Afterwards men go by many cities and towns and great
countries to the city of Cornaa (Kornah?), which was formerly so
great that the walls are twenty-five miles about. The walls are
still standing, but it is not all inhabited. From Cornaa men go
by many lands, and many cities and towns, unto the land of
Job ; and there ends the land of the emperor of Persia.
Chapter XIV.
OP THE LAND OF JOB, AND OF HIS AGE. — OF THE ARRAY OF MEN OF CHALDEA.
^OF THE LAND WHERE WOMEN DWELL WITHOUT COMPANY OF MEN. OF
THE KNOWLEDGE AND VIRTUES OP THE TRUE DIAMOND.
After leaving Cornaa, we enter the land of Job, a very fair
country, and abounding in all goods ; and men call it the land
of Sweze (Susiana). In that land is the city of Theman. Job
. was a pagan, and he was son of Are of Gosre, and held the land
as prince of the country; and he was so rich that he knew not
the hundredth part of his goods. And, although he was a
pagan, still he served God well, after his law; and our Lord
took his service in satisfaction. And when he fell in poverty
he was seventy-eight years of age. And afterwards, when God
had tried his patience, w^hich was so great, he brought him
again to riches, and to higher estate than before. And after
that he was king of Idumea, after king Esau. And when he
was king he was called Jobab. And in that kingdom he
lived afterwards one hundred and seventy years -i^ ; and so he
was of age, when he died, tw^o hundred and forty-eight years.
In that land of Job there is no want of any thing needful to
* One hundred and forty years. Job; xlii. 16.
S06 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1o2'2.
man's body. There are hills, where they get manna in greater
abundance than in any other country. This manna is called
bread of angels ; and it is a white thing, very sweet and de-
licious, and sweeter than honey or sugar; it comes of the
dew of heaven, that falls upon the herbs in that country ; and
it congeals, and becomes white and sweet ; and they put it in
medicines for rich men, for it cleanseth the blood, and putteth
out melancholy. This land of Job borders on the kingdom
of Chaldea. This land of Chaldea is very extensive ; and the
language of that country is greater in sounding than it is in
other parts beyond the sea. We pass it to go to the Tower
of Babylon the Great, of which I have spoken, where all the
languages were first changed ; and that is four days from
Chaldea. In that realm are fair men, and they go full nobly
arrayed in cloths of gold, orfrayed, and apparelled mth great
pearls and precious stones full nobly; but the women are very
ugly, and vilely arrayed ; and they go barefoot, and clothed in
evil garments, large and wide, but short to the knees, and
long sleeves down to the feet, like a monk's frock, and their
sleeves are hanging about their shoulders ; and they are black
women, foul and hideous ; and truly they are as bad as they
are foul. In that kingdom of Chaldea, in a city called Ur,
dwelt Terah, Abraham's father; and there w^as Abraham born,
w^hich was in the time that Ninus was king of Babylon, of
Arabia, and of Egypt. This Ninus made the city of Nineveh,
which Noah had begun ; and because Ninus completed it, he
called it Nineveh, after his own name. There lies Tobit the
prophet, of whom Holy Writ speaketh. And from that city
of Ur Abraham departed, by the commandment of God, after
the death of his father, and led with him Sarah, his wife,
and Lot, his brother's son, because he had no child. And
they went to dwell in the land of Canaan, in a place called
Shechem. And this Lot was he who was saved, when Sodom
and Gomorrah and the other cities, where the Dead Sea now is,
. were burnt and sunk down to hell, as I have told you before.
Beside the land of Chaldea is the land of Amazonia, in
which is all women, and no man; not, as some men say, be-
cause men may not live there, but because the women will
not suffer men amongst them, to be their sovereigns^. This
land of Amazonia is an island surrounded by the sea, except
* Here follows, in the original, the common story of the Amazons, taken
from the ancient authors, which is not worth reprinting.
A.D. 1322.] ETHIOPIA AND INDIA. 207
in two places, where are two entrances. And beyond the
water dwell the men who are their paramours, where they go
to solace them when they will. Beside Amazonia is the land
of Tarmegyte, a great and very pleasant country, and for the
goodness of which king Alexander made there the city of
Alexandria: he made twelve cities of the same name, but
that city is now called Celsite. And from that other side of
Chaldea, toward the south, is Ethiopia, a great country, which
extends to the extremity of Egypt. Ethiopia is divided into
two principal parts, the east and the south, the latter part
being called Mauritania. And the people of that country are
blacker than in the other part, and are called Moors. In that
country is a well, which in the day is so cold that no man may
drink thereof, and in the night it is so hot that no man may
suffer his hand therein. Towards the south, to pass by the
Ocean Sea, is a great country, but men may not dwell there,
for the fervent burning of the sun. In Ethiopia all the
rivers and waters are troubled, and somewhat salt, for the
great heat that is there. And the people of that country are
easily intoxicated, and have but little appetite for meat. And
they are afflicted with dysenteries, and live not long. In
Ethiopia, the children, when young, are all yellow; and when
they grow older that yellowness turns to black. In Ethiopia
is the city of Saba and the land where one of the three kings
reigned who came to our Lord in Bethlehem.
From Ethiopia they go to India through many different
countries ; and men call the higher India Emlak. India
is divided into three principal parts : the Greater, which
is a very hot country ; and India the Less, w^hich is a tem-
perate country, extending to the land of Media ; and the
third part, toward the north, is so cold, that for continual
frost the water becomes crystal; and upon those rocks of
crystal grow the good diamonds, that are of troubled colour.
Yellow crystal draws colour like oil. And they are so hard
that no man may polish them ; and men call them diamonds
in that country, and hamese in another country. Other dia-
monds are found in Arabia, but they are not so good ; they
are browner and more tender. And other diamonds also are
found in the island of Cyprus, which are still more tender,
and may easily be polished ; and they find diamonds also in
Macedonia; but the best and most precious are in India.
And they often find hard diamonds in a mass which comes
"^08 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322.
out of gold, when they break the mass in small pieces, to
purify it and refine it, out of the mine. And it sometimes
happens that they find some as great as a pea, and some less ;
and they are as hard as those of India. And although
men find good diamonds in India, yet nevertheless men find
them more commonly upon the rocks in the sea, and upon
hills where the mine of gold is. They grow many together,
one little, another great ; and there are some of the greatness
of a bean, and some as great as a hazel nut. They are square
and pointed of their own kind, both above and beneath,
without work of man's hand ; and they grow together, male
and female, and are nourished by the dew of heaven ; and they
engender commonly and bring forth small children, that mul-
tiply and grow all the year. I have oftentimes tried the experi-
ment, that if a man keep them with a little of the rock, and
wet them with May-dew often, they shall grow every year,
and the small will grow great * ; for right as the fine pearl
congeals and grows great by the dew of heaven, right so doth
the true diamond : and right as the pearl of its own nature
takes roundness, so the diamond, by virtue of God, takes
squareness. And a man should carry the diamond on his left
side, for it is of greater virtue than on the right sidef ; for
the strength of their growing is toward the north, that is the
left side of the world ; and the left part of man is, when he
turns his face towards the east. And if you wish to know the
virtues of the diamond (as men may find in the " Lapidary,"];
with which many men are not acquainted), I shall tell you,
as they beyond the sea say and affirm, from whom all science
and philosophy comes. He who carries the diamond upon
him, it gives him hardiness and manhood, and it keeps the
limbs of his body whole. It gives him victory over his ene-
mies in court and in war, if his cause be just ; and it keeps
him that bears it in good wit ; and it keeps him from strife
and riot, from sorrows and from enchantments, and from phan-
tasies and illusions of wicked spirits. And if any cursed
witch or enchanter would bewitch him that bears the diamond,
all that sorrow and mischance sball turn to the offender,
* Maundeville's notions concerning diamonds are somewhat singular; they
are, however, partly taken from Pliny, lib. xxxvii. c. 4.
f Hence the ring was commonly worn on the left hand.
X The " Liber Lapidarius'' was a popular medieval treatise on the virtues
and properties of precious stones, which was of great importance when
people implicitly believed in the wonderful efficacy of such things.
A.D. 1322.] NATURE OF DIAMONDS. 209
through virtue of that stone ; and also no wild beast dare assail
the man who bears it on him. Also the diamond should be
given freely, without coveting and without buying, and then it
is of greater virtue ; and it makes a man stronger and firmer
asfainst his enemies : and heals him that is lunatic, and those
whom the fiend pursues or torments. And if venom or poison
be brought in presence of the diamond, anon it begins to
grow moist and sweat. There are also diamonds in India
that are called violastres (for their colour is like violet, or more
brown than violets), that are very hard and precious, but some
men like them not so well as the others. Also there is an-
other kind of diamonds that are as white as crystal ; but they
are a little more troubled ; and they are good and of great
virtue, and they are all square and pointed of their own na-
ture; and some are six-square, some four-square, and some
three, as nature shapes them; and, therefore, when great
lords and knights go to seek honour in arms, they gladly bear
the diamond upon them.
, I shall speak a little more of the diamonds, that they who
know them not may not be deceived by chapmen who go through
the country selling them ; for whoever will buy the diamond,
it is needful that he know them, because men counterfeit them
often with crystal, which is yellow; and with sapphires of
citron colour, which is yellow also ; and with the sapphire
loupe, and with many other stones. But these counterfeits
,are not so hard; and the points will break easily, and men
may easily polish them. But some worl^men, for malice, will
not polish them, to that intent, to make men believe that they
may not be polished. But men may assay them in this man-
ner ; first cut with them or write with them in sapphires, in
crystal, or in other precious stones. Also take the adamant-*',
that is, the shipman's stone, that draws the needle to it, and lay
the diamond on it, and lay the needle before the adamant ; and
if the diamond be good and virtuous, the adamant draws not
the needle, while the diamond is there present. This is the
proof that they beyond the sea use. Nevertheless it happens
often that the good diamond loses its virtue by sin, and for
incontinence of him that bears it; and then it is needful to
make it recover its virtue again, or else it is of little value.
* i. e. The loadstone. The appellation of the " shipman's stone" is curious,
as showing that the properties of the mariners' compass were well known
before the middle of the fourteenth century. We have other evidence to
show that the mariner's compass was known at a much earlier period.
P
210 SIB JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
Chapter XV.
OF THE CUSTOMS OF ISLES ABOUT INDIA. — OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
IDOLS AND SIMULACRES. — OF THREE KINDS OF PEPPER GROWING UPON
ONE TREE. OF THE WELL THAT CHANGES ITS ODOUR EVERY HOUR OF
THE DAY.
In India are very many different countries ; and it is called
India, from a river which runs through the country called
Indus. In that river they find eels thirty feet long and more ^.
And the people that dwell near that water are of evil colour,
green and yellow. In India, and about India, are more than
five thousand inhabited islands, good and great, besides those
that are uninhabitable, and other small islands. Every island
has great plenty of cities, and towns, and people without
number f. For men of India have this condition of nature,
that they never go out of their own country, and therefore
there is great multitude of people; but they are not stirring
or moveable, because they are in the first climate, that is, of
Saturn. And Saturn is slow, and little moving ; for he tar-
rieth thirty years to make his course through the twelve signs ;
and the moon passes through the twelve signs in a month.
And because Saturn is so slow of motion, the people of
that country, that are under his climate, have no inclination
or will to move or stir to seek strange places. Our country
is all the contrary ; for we are in the seventh climate, which
is of the moon, and the moon moves rapidly, and is a planet of
progression ; and for that reason it gives us a natural will to
move lightly, and to go different ways, and to seek strange
things and other diversities of the world ; for the moon goes
round the earth more rapidly than any other planet.
Also men go through India by many different countries, to the
great Sea of Ocean. And afterwards men find there an island
that is called Hermes I ; and there come merchants of Venice
and Genoa, and of other parts, to buy merchandise ; but there
is great heat in that district. In that country, and in Ethiopia,
and in many other countries, the inhabitants lie all naked in
rivers and waters, men and women together, from undurn§
* This is taken from Pliny's Natural History, lib. ix. c. 3.
+ Pliny's Natural History, lib. vi. c. 17.
X Ormuz.
§ JJndurn was nine o'clock in the morning. The Latin text has "J. did
hora teriia usque ad nonam,"
A.D. 1322.] THE ISLANDS OF THE OCEAN. 211
of the day till it be past noon. And they lie all in the water,
except the face, for the great heat that there is. And the
women have no shame of the men, but lie all together, side
by side, till the heat is past There may men see many foul
figures assembled, and chiefly near the good towns. In that
island are ships without nails of iron or bonds, on account of
the rocks of adamants (loadstones^-); for they are all abundant
thereabout in that sea, that it is marvellous to speak of ; and
if a ship passed there that had either iron bonds or iron nails,
it would perish ; for the adamant, by its nature, draws iron
to it; and so it would draw to it the ship, because of the
iron, that it should never depart from it.
From that island men go by sea to another island called
Ghana, where is abundance of corn and wine ; and it was
wont to be a great island, and a great and good haven, but the
sea has greatly wasted it and overcome it. The king of that
country was formerly so strong and so mighty that he held
war against king Alexander. The people of that country differ
in their religious belief; for some worship the sun, some the
moon, some the fire, some trees, some serpents, or the first
thing that they meet in a morning ; and some worship simu-
lacres, and some idols. Between simulacres and idols there
is a great difference ; for simulacres are images made after
the likeness of men or of women, or of the sun or of the moon,
or of any beast, or of any natural thing ; and an idol- is an image
made by the lewd will of man, which is not to be found
among natural things, as an image that has four heads, one of
a man, another of a horse, or of an ox, or of some other
beast, that no man has seen in nature. And they that wor-
ship simulacres worship them for some worthy man who
once existed, as Hercules and many others, that did many
wonders in their time. For they say well that they are not
gods; for they know well that there is a God of nature that
made all things, who is in heaven ; but they know well that
this man may not do the wonders that he did, unless it had
been by the special gift of God, and therefore they say that
he was well with God, wherefore they worship him. And
* This tradition of a mountain of magnetic ore is very general among the
Chinese and throughout Asia. The Chinese assign its position to a specific
place, which they call Tchang-hai, in the southern sea, between Tonquin and
Cochin-China, which is precisely the same geographical region indicated in
the adventures of Sinhad the Sailor.
p 2
-212 ' SIK JOHN MAUXDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
• SO they say of the sun ; because it changes the season and
gives heat and nourishes all things upon earth ; and since it
is of so great profit, they know well that that might not be,
unless God loved it more than any other thing. And be-
cause God has given it greater virtue in the world, therefore
it is right, as they say, to worship and reverence it. And so
they say of other planets, and of the fire also, because it is so
2)rofi table. And of idols, they say also that the ox is the
most holy beast that is on earth, and most patient and more
profitable than any other ; and they know well that it may
not be without special grace of God, and therefore make they
their god of an ox the one part, and the other part of a man,
because man is the noblest creature on earth, and also he
hath lordship above all beasts; therefore make they the upper
half of the idol of a man, and the lower half of an ox ; and so
of serpents and of other beasts, and different things that they
worship, that they meet first in a morning. And they wor-
ship also especially all those that they have good meeting of,
and when they speed well in their journey, after their meet-
ing, and mostly such as they have proved and assayed by ex-
perience of long time ; for they say, that that good meeting
may not come but by the grace of God ; and therefore they
make images like to those things in which they have belief,
to behold them and worship them first in the morning, before
they meet any contrarious thing. And there are also some
Christians who say that it is good to meet some beasts first
in the morning, and bad to meet others ; and that they have
often proved that it is very unlucky to meet the hare, and
swine, and many other beasts ; and the sparrow-hawk, and
other ravenous birds, when they fly after their prey, and take
it before armed men, is a good sign, and if they fail of taking
their prey it is an evil sign ; and also, to such people, it is
unlucky to meet ravens. There are many people that believe
in these things, and in other such, because it happens often so
to fall after their fantasies ; and also there are men enough
that disbelieve in them. And since Christians have such be-
lief, who are instructed and taught all day by holy doctrine
wherein they should believe, it is no wonder that the Pagans,
• who have no good doctrine, but only of their nature, believe
more largely, on account of their simplicity. And truly I
have seen Pagans and Saracens, whom men call augurs, that
when we ride in arms in different countries ao-ainst our ene-
A.D. 1322.] THE COUNTRY OF PEPPER. 213
mies, they would tell us, by the flight of birds, the prognosti-
cations of things that fell after ; and so they did full often,
and offered to pledge their heads that it would fall as they
said. But a man should not, therefore, put his belief in such
things, but always have full trust and belief in God our sove-
reign lord. The Saracens have won and now hold this island
of Ghana. It contains many lions, and many other wild
beasts, with rats as great as dogs, which they take with great
mastiffs, for cats cannot take them. In this island, and
many others, they do not bury their dead ; for the heat is so
great, that in a little time the flesh will consume from the
bones.
From thence men go by sea towards India the Greater, to
a good and fair city called Sarche, where dwell many Chris-
tians of good faith : and there are many monks, especially
mendicants. Thence men go by sea to the land of Lomb, in
which grows the pepper, in the forest called Combar, and it
grows nowhere else in all the world ; that forest extends full
eighteen days in length. In the forest are two good cities,
one called Fladrine, and the other Zinglantz, in each of which
dwell many Christians and Jews ; for it is a good and rich
country, but the heat is exceeding. And you shall understand
that the pepper grows like a wild vine, which is planted close
by the trees of that wood, to sustain it ; the fruit hangs like
bunches of grapes, with which the tree is so laden that it
seems that it would break ; and when it is ripe, it is all green
like ivy berries ; and then men cut them as they do the vines,
and put them upon an oven, where they become black and crisp.
There are three kinds of pepper all on one tree ; long pepper,
black pepper, and white pepper. The long pepper is called
Sorbotin ; the black is called Fulful ; and the white is called
Bano. The long pepper comes first, when the leaf begins to
appear, and is like the catkins of hazel that come before the
leaf, and it hangs low. Next comes the black with the leaf,
like clusters of grapes, all green ; and, when gathered, it be-
comes the white, which is somewhat less than the black, and
of that but little is brought to this country, for they keep it
for themselves, because it is better and milder than the black.
In that country are many kinds of serpents and other vermin,
in consequence of the great heat of the country and of the
pepper. And some men say that, when they will gather the pep-
per, they make fires and burn thereabouts, to make the serpents
214 SIR JO FIN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
and cockodrills to fly ; but this is not true But thus they
do : they anoint their hands and feet with a juice made of
snails and other things, of which the serpents and venomous
beasts hate the savour ; and that makes them fly before them,
because of the smell, and then they gather in the pepper in
safety.
Toward the head of that forest is the city of Polombe, above
which is a great mountain, also called Polombe, from w^hich
the city has its name. And at the foot of that mountain is
a fair and great well, which has the odour and savour of all
spices ; and at every hour of the day it changes its odour and
savour diversely ; and whoever drinks three times fasting of
the water of that well is w^hole of all kind of sickness that
he has ; and they that dwell there, and drink often of that
well, never have sickness, but appear always young. I have
drunk thereof three or four times, and methinks I still fare
the better. Some men call it the Well of Youth; for they
that often drink thereof appear always young, and live with-
out sickness ^. And men say that that well comes out of
Paradise, and therefore it is so virtuous. All that country
grows good ginger ; and therefore merchants go thither for
spicery. In that land men worship the ox, for his simpleness
and for his meekness, and for the profit that comes of him.
They say that he is the holiest beast on earth ; for they con-
sider that whosoever is meek and patient, he is holy and pro-
fitable, for then, they say, he hath all virtues in him. They
make the ox to labour six or seven years, and then they eat
him. And the king of the country has always an ox with
him ; and his keeper has every day great fees, and keeps
every day his dung and urine in two vessels of gold, and
brings it before their prelate, whom they call archiprotopa-
paton, and he carries it before the king, and makes over it a
great blessing ; and then the king wets his hands in what
they call gall, and anoints his forehead and breast, and after-
wards he rubs himself with the dung and urine with great
reverence, to be filled with the virtues of the ox, and made
holy by the virtue of that holy thing. And when the king
has done, the lords follow his example ; and after them their
* The Well of Youth was a sort of El Dorado of the middle ages, which
most people believed in, and many went in search of; but, in spite of Maunde-
ville's assertion that he had drunk of the water, it appears never to have been
found.
A.D. 1322.] JUDGMENTS OF ST. THOMAS. 215
ministers, and other men, if there be any left. In that coun-
try they make idols, half man, half ox; and in those idols evil
spirits speak, and even answer to men. Before these idols
men often slay their children, and sprinkle the blood on the
idols, and so they make their sacrifice. And when any man
dies in the country they burn his body in the name of pen-
ance, to that intent that he suffer no pain in earth, by being
eaten by worms. And if his wife have no child they burn
her with him, and say that it is right that she accompany him
in the other world as she did in this. But if she have chil-
dren with him, they let her live with them, to bring them up,
if she will. And if she love more to live with her chil-
dren then to die with her husband, they hold her for false
and cursed ; and she shall never be loved or trusted by the
people. And if the woman die before the husband, they bum
him with her, if he will ; and if he will not, no man con-
straineth him thereto, but he may wed another time without
blame or reproof. In that country grow many strong vines,
and the women drink wine, and men not; and the women
shave their beards, and the men not.
. Chapter XVI.
OF THE JUDGMENTS MADE BY SAINT THOMAS. — OP DEVOTION AND SACRIFICE
MADE TO IDOLS THERE, IN THE CITY OP CALAMY ; AND OF THE PROCESSION
ABOUT THE CITY.
From that country we pass many districts, towards a countr}'-
ten days' journey thence, called Mabaron*, which is a great
kingdom, containing many fair cities and towns. In that
kingdom lies the body of St. Thomas the Apostle, in flesh
and bone, in a fair tomb, in the city of Calamy ; for there he
was martyred and buried. But men of Assyria carried his
body into Mesopotamia, into the city of Edessa ; and, after-
wards, he was brought thither again. And the arm and the
hand that he put in our Lord's side, when he appeared to
him after his resurrection, is yet lying in a vessel without the
tomb. By that hand they there make all their judgments.
For when there is any dissension between two parties, and
each of them maintains his cause, both parties write their
causes in two bills, and put them in the hand of St. Tho-
* This is the country described by Marco Polo, book iii. c. 20, under the
name of Maabar.
216 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 13^2..
mas ; and aiion he casts away the bill of the wrong cause,
and holds still the bill with the right cause. And, therefore,
men come from far countries to have judgment of doubtful
causes. The church where St. Thomas lies is both great
and fair, and full of great simulacres, which are great images
that they call their gods, of which the least is as great as two
men. And, amongst the others, there is a great image larger
than any of the others, all covered with fine gold and precious
stones and rich pearls ; and that idol is the god of false Chris-
tians, who have renounced their faith. It sits in a chair of
gold, very nobly arrayed, and has about the neck large girdles
made of gold and precious stones and pearls. The church is
fall richly wrought, and gilt all over within. And to that
idol men go on pilgrimage, as commonly and with as great
devotion as Christian men go to St. James, or other holy pil-
grimages. And many people that come from far lands to seek
that idol, for the great devotion that they have, never look
upwards, but evermore down to the earth, for dread to see
any thing about tliem that should hinder them of their devo-
tion. And some who go on pilgrimage to this idol bear
knives in their hands, that are very keen and sharp, and
continually, as they go, they smite themselves on their arms,
legs, and thighs, with many hideous wounds ; and so they
shed their blood for love of that idol. They say that he is
blessed and holy that dieth so for love of his god. And
others there are who carry their children to be slain as a
sacrifice to that idol ; and after they have slain them, they
sprinkle the blood upon the idol. And some, who come
from far, in going towards this idol, at every third pass that
they go from their home, they kneel, and so continue till
they come thither; and when they come there, they take
incense and other aromatic things of noble smell, and scent
the idol, as we here do God's precious body. And so people
come to worship this image, some a hundred miles, and
some many more. And before the minster of this idol is a
pool, like a great lake, full of water; and therein pilgrims
cast gold and silver, pearls and precious stones, without
number, instead of offerings. And when the ministers of
that church need to make any reparation of the church
or of any of the idols, they take gold and silver, pearls and
precious stones, out of the pond, to pay the expenses of
such thing as they make or repair. At great feasts and
A.D. 132-2.] WORSHIP OF IDOLS. 217
solemnities of that idol, as the dedication of the church and the
enthroning of the idol, all the country about meet there, and set
the idol upon a chair with great reverence, well arrayed with
cloths of gold, of rich cloths of Tartary, of camaka--, and
other precious cloths ; and they lead him about the city with
great solemnity. And before the chair go first in procession
all the maidens of the country, two and two together ; and,
after them, the pilgrims. And some of them fall down under
the wheels of the chair, and let the chair go over them, so
that they die immediately. And some have their arms or
their limbs broken. And all this they do for love of their
god, in great devotion. And they think that the more pain
and tribulation they suffer for love of their god, the more
joy they shall have in another w^orld. In a word, they
suffer so great pains and so hard martyrdoms for love of
their idol, that a Christian, I believe, durst not take upon
him the tenth part of the pain for love of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And after them, before the chair, go all the min-
strels of the country, with divers instruments, and make all
the melody they can. And when they have all gone about
the city, they return to the minster and put the idol again
into its place. And then, for the love and in worship of
that idol, and for the reverence of the feast, two hundred or
three hundred persons slay themselves with sharp knives,
whose bodies they bring before the idol ; and then they
say that those are saints, because they slew themselves
of their own good will, for love of their idol. And as men
here, that had a holy saint of their kin, would think that
it was to them a high worship, right so they think there.
And as men here devoutly would write holy saints' lives and
their miracles, and sue for their canonizations, right so do they
there for them that slay themselves voluntarily for love of
their idol. And they say that they are glorious martyrs and
saints, and put them in their writings and in their litanies,
and boast them greatly one to another of their holy kinsmen,
that so became saints, and say, " I have more holy saints in
my family than thou in thine." And the custom also there
is this, that when any one has such devotion and intent
to slay himself for love of his god, they send for all their
friends, and have numerous minstrels, and they go before the
* A rich clotli of silk, mentioned not unfrequently in medieval writers. .
218 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
idol, leading him that will slay liimself for such devotion,
between them, with great reverence. And he, all naked,
hath a very sharp knife in his hand, and he cuts a great
piece of his flesh and casts it in the face of his idol, saying
his prayers, recommending himself to his god : and then he
smites himself, and makes great wounds and deep here and
there, till he falls down dead. And then his friends present
his body to the idol ; and then they say, singing, " Holy
god, behold W'hat thy true servant hath done for thee; he
hath forsaken his wife, and his children, and his riches, and
all the goods of the world and his own life for the love of thee,
and to make for thee sacrifice of his flesh and of his blood.
Wherefore, holy god, put him amongst thy best beloved
saints in thy bliss of paradise, for he hath well deserved it."
Then they make a great fire, and burn the body ; and then
every one of his friends takes a quantity of the ashes, and
keeps them instead of relics, saying that it is a holy thing ;
and they dread no peril while they have the holy ashes upon
them. And they put his name in their litanies as a saint.
Chapter XVII.
OP THE EVIL CUSTOMS IN THE ISLE OP LAMARY ; AND HOW THE EARTH
AND THE SEA ARE OF ROUND FORM, AS IS PROVED BY THE STAR CALLED
ANTARCTIC, WHICH IS FIXED IN THE SOUTH.
From that country men go by the Sea of Ocean, and by
many divers isles and countries which it would be too long to
describe. Fifty- two days from the land T have spoken of
there is another extensive land, which they call Lamary, in
w^iich the heat is very great ; and it is the custom there for
men and women to go all naked. And they scorn when they
see foreigners going clothed, because they say that God
made Adam and Eve all naked, and that no man should be
ashamed of what is according to nature. And they say that
they that are clothed are people of another world, or people
who believe not in God. And they marry there no' wives,
for all the women are common ; and they say they sin if they
refuse any man : for God commanded Adam and Eve, and
all that come of him, that they should increase and mul-
tiply and fill the land, therefore may no man in that country
say, *' This is my wife;" and no woman may say, " This is
my husband." And when they have children, they may give
A.D. 1322.] THE FORM OF THE EARTH. 219
them to what man they will, who has companied with them.
And all land and property also is common, nothing being shut
up, or kept under lock, one man being as rich as another.
But in that country there is a cursed custom, for they eat
more gladly man's flesh than any other flesh, although their
country abounds in flesh, fish, corn, gold, and silver, and all
other goods. Thither merchants go, who bring with them
children to sell to them of the country, and they buy them ;
and if they are fat they eat them anon : and if they are lean
they feed them till they are fat, and then eat them ; and
they say that it is the best and sweetest flesh in the world.
Neither in that land, nor in many others beyond it, may any
man see the polar star, which is called the Star of the Sea,
which is immoveable, and is towards the north, gfnd which we
call the load-star. But they see another star opposite to it,
towards the south, which is called antarctic. And right as
shipmen here govern themselves by the load-star, so ship-
men beyond these parts are guided by the star of the south,
which appears not to us. This star, which is towards the
north, that we call the load-star, appears not to them. For
which ca.use, we may clearly perceive that the land and sea are
of round shape and form, because the part of the firmament
appears in one country which is not seen in another country.
And men may prove by experience and their understanding,
that if a man found passages by ships, he might go by
ship all round the world, above and beneath ; which I prove
thus, after what I have seen. For I have been towards the
parts of Brabant, and found by the astrolabe^ that the polar
star is fifty-three degrees high ; and further, in Germany
and Bohemia, it has fifty-eight degrees ; and still further
towards the north it is sixty-two degrees and some minutes ;
for I myself have measured it by the astrolabe. Now you
shall know that opposite the polar star is the other star,
called antarctic, as I have said before. These two stars are
fixed; and about them all the firmament turns as a wheel
that turns on its axle-tree ; so that those stars bear the
firmament in two equal parts ; so that it has as much above
as it has beneath. After this I have gone towards the south,
* An astronomical instrument used in the middle ages for taking altitudes,
&c. Maundeville's notions about the form of the earth, and the possibility
of passing round it, are extremely curious, from the circumstance of their
having been written and published so long before the time of Columbus.
S20 * SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
and have found, that in Lybia we first see the antarctic star;
and I have gone so far in tliose countries that I have found
that star higher, so that, towards Upper Lybia, it is eighteen
degrees and certain minutes. After going by sea and land
towards the country of which I spoke last, and to other isles
and lands beyond that country, I have found the antarctic
star thirty-three degrees in altitude, and some minutes. And
if I had had company and shipping to go further, I believe
certainly that we should have seen all the roundness of the
firmament all about. For, as I have told you before, the half
of the firmament is between the two stars, which half I have
seen. And the other half I have seen towards the north,
under the polar star, sixty- two degrees and ten minutes ; and,
towards the south, I have seen under the antarctic thirty-
three degrees and sixteen minutes ; and the half of the firma-
ment in all contains but one hundred and eighty degrees,
of which I have seen sixty-two on the one part, and thirty-
three on the other, which makes ninety-five degrees, and
nearly the half of a degree ; so that I have seen all the
firmament except eighty-four degrees and the half of a de-
gree ; and that is not the fourth part of the firmament. By
which I tell you, certainly, that men may go all round the
world, as well under as above, and return to their country,
if they had company, and shipping, and guides ; and always
they would find men, lands, and isles, as well as in our part
of the world. For they who are towards the antarctic are
directly feet opposite feet of them who dwell under the polar
star ; as well as we and they that dwell under us are feet
opposite feet. For all parts of sea and land have their oppo-
sites, habitable or passable.
And know well that, after what I may perceive and under-
stand, the lands of Prester John, emperor of India, are under
us ; for in going from Scotland or from England, towards
Jerusalem, men go always upwards ; for our land is in the low
part of the earth, towards the west ; and the land of Prester
John is in the low part of the earth, towards the east ; and they
have there the day when we have night ; and, on the contrary,
they have the night when we have the day ; for the earth and
the sea are of a round form, as I have said before ; and as
men go upward to one part, they go downward to another.
Also you have heard me say that Jerusalem is in the middle
of the world ; and that may be proved and shown there by a
A.D. 1322.] THE FORM OF THE EARTH. 221
spear which is fixed in the earth at the hour of midday, when
it is equinoxial, which gives no shadow on any side. They,
therefore, that start from the west to go towards Jerusalem,
as many days as they go upward to go thither, in so many
days may they go from Jerusalem to other confines of the
superficialties of the earth beyond. And when men go beyond
that distance, towards India and to the foreign isles, they are
proceeding on the roundness of the earth and the sea, under
our country. And therefore hath it befallen many times of a
thing that I have heard told when I was young, how a worthy
man departed once from our country to go and discover the
world ; and so he passed India, and the isles beyond India,
where are more than five thousand isles ; and so long he went
by sea and land, and so environed the world by many seasons,
that he found an isle where he heard people speak his own lan-
guage, calling on oxen in the plough such words as men speak
to beasts in his ow^n country, w^hereof he had great wonder, for
he knew not how it might be. But I say that he had gone so
long, by land and sea, that he had gone all round the earth,
that he was come again to his own borders, if he would have
passed forth till he had found his native country. But he
turned again from thence, from whence he was come ; and so
he lost much painful labour, as himself said, a great while
after, when he was coming home ; for it befell after, that he
went into Norway, and the tempest of the sea carrried him to
an isle ; and when he w^as in that isle, he knew well that it
was the isle where he had heard his own language spoken
before, and the calling of the oxen at the plough. But it
seems to simple and unlearned men that men may not go
under the earth, but that they would fall from under towards
the heaven. But that may not be any more than we fall
towards heaven from the earth where we are ; for from what
part of the earth that men dwell, either above or beneath, it
seems always to them that they go more right than any other
people. And right as it seems to us that they be under
us, so it seems to them that we are under them ; for if a
man might fall from the earth unto the firmament, by greater
reason the earth and the sea, that are so great and so heavy,
should fall to the firmament ; but that may not be, and there-
fore saith our Lord God, "He hangeth the earth upon no^
thing."* And although it be possible so to go all round the
* Job, xxvi. 7.
S22 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
world, yet of a thousand persons not one might happen to
return to his country : for, from the greatness of the earth and
sea, men may go by a thousand different ways, that no one
could be sure of returning exactly to the parts he came from,
unless by chance or by the grace of God; for the earth is
very large, and contains in roundness and circuit, above and
beneath, 20,425 miles, after the opinion of the old wise
astronomers ; and, after my little wit, it seems to me, saving
their reverence, that it is more ; for I say thus : let there be
imagined a figure that has a great compass ; and, about the
point of the great compass, which is called the centre, let
there be made another little compass ; then, afterwards, let the
great compass be divided by lines in many parts, and all the
lines meet at the centre ; so that in as many parts as the
great compass shall be divided, in so many shall the little
one that is about the centre be divided, although the spaces
be less. Let the great compass be represented for the
firmament, and the little compass for the earth ; now the
firmament is divided by astronomers into twelve signs, and
every sign is divided into thirty degrees. Also let the earth
be divided into as many parts as the firmament, and let every
part answer to a degree of the firmament ; and I know well that,
after the authorities in astronomy, seven hundred furlongs of
earth answer to a degree of the firmament, that is eighty-seven
miles and four furlongs. Now, multiplied by three hundred
and sixty times, it makes 31,500 miles, each of eight fur-
longs, according to miles of our country. So much hath the
earth in circuit after my opinion and understanding.
Chapteu XYIII.
OF THE PALACE OP THE KING OF THE ISLE OF JAVA. — OF THE TREES THAT
BEAR MEAL, HONEY, WINE, AND VENOM; AND OF OTHER WONDERS AND
CUSTOMS IN THE ISLES THEREABOUTS.
Beside the isle I have spoken of, there is another great isle
called Sumobor^^, the king of which is very mighty. The
people of that isle make marks in their faces with a hot iron,
both men and women, as a mark of great nobility, to be
known from other people ; for they hold themselves most
noble and most worthy of all the world. They have war
* Perhaps Sumatra. Maundeville seems to allude to the tattooing prac-
tised so generally in the islands of the Pacific.
A.D. 1822.] DESCRIPTION OF JAVA. 223
always with tlie people that go all naked. Fast beside is
another rich isle called Beteinga. And there are many other
isles thereabout.
Fast beside that isle, to pass by sea, is a great isle and
extensive country, called Java, which is near two thousand
miles in circuit. And the king of that country is a very great
lord, rich and mighty, having under him seven other kings of
seven other surrounding isles. This isle is well inhabited,
and in it grow all kinds of spices more plentifully than in any
other country, as ginger, cloves, canel, sedewalle, nutmegs,
and maces. And know well that the nutmeg bears the maces ;
for right as the nut of the hazel hath a husk in which the nut
is inclosed till it be ripe, so it is of the nutmeg and of the
maces. Many other spices and many other goods grow in
that isle; for of all things there is plenty, except wine.
Gold and silver are very plentiful. The king of that country
has a very noble and wonderful palace, and richer than any in
the world ; for all the steps leading to halls and chambers are
alternately of gold and silver ; and the pavements of halls and
chambers are squares of gold and silver; and all the walls within
are covered with gbld and silver in thin plates ; in which
plates are inlaid stories and battles of knights, the crowns
and circles about whose heads are made of precious stones
and rich and great pearls. And the halls and the chambers
of the palace are all covered within with gold and silver, so
that no man would believe the richness of that palace unless
he had seen it. And know well that the king of that isle is
so mighty, that he hath many times overcome the great chan
of Cathay in battle, who is the greatest emperor under the
firmament, either beyond the sea or on this side ; for they
have often had war between them, because the great chan
would oblige him to hold his land of him ; but the other at all
times defendeth himself well against him.
After that isle is another large isle, called Pathan, which is
a great kingdom, full of fair cities and towns. In that land
grow trees that bear meal, of which men make good bread,
white, and of good savour ; and it seemeth as it were of wheat,
but it is not quite of such savour. And there are other trees
that bear good and sweet honey; and others that bear
poison ^^ against which there is no medicine but one; and
that is to take their own leaves, and stamp them and mix
* This seems to be an allusion to the upas tree.
S24 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
them with water, and then drink it, for no medicine will
avail. The Jews had sent for some of this poison by one
of their friends, to poison all Christendom, as I have heard
them say in their confession before dying; but, thanked be
Almighty God, they failed of their purpose, although they
caused a great mortality of people ^'^. And there are other
trees that bear excellent wdne. And if you like to hear how
the meal comes out of the trees, men hew the trees with an
hatchet, all about the foot, till the bark be separated in many
parts ; and then comes out a thick liquor, which they receive
in vessels, and dry it in the sun ; and then carry it to a
mill to grind, and it becomes fair and white meal ; and the
honey, and the wine, and the poison, are drawn out of other
trees in the same manner, and put in vessels to keep. In
that isle is a dead sea, or lake, that has no bottom ; and if any
thing fall into it, it will never come up again. In that lake
grow reeds, which they call Thaby, that are thirty fathoms
long ; and of these reeds they make fair houses. And there
are other reeds, not so long, that grow near the land, and have
roots full a quarter of a furlong or more long, at the knots of
which roots precious stones are found that have great virtues ;
for he who carries any of them upon him may not be hurt by
iron or steel ; and therefore they who have those stones on
them fight very boldly both on sea and land ; and, therefore,
when their enemies are aware of this, they shoot at them
arrows and darts without iron or steel, and so hurt and slay
them. And also of those reeds they make houses and ships,
and other things, as we here make houses and ships of oak,
or of any other trees. And let no man think that I am
joking, for I have seen these reeds with my own eyes many
times, lying upon the river of that lake, of which twenty of
our fellows might not lift up or bear one to the earth.
Beyond this isle men go by sea to another rich isle, called
Calonakf, the king of which has as many wives as he will;
for he makes search through the country for the fairest
.maidens that may be found, who are brought before him, and
* This accusation was spread against tlie Jews, as an excuse for persecu-
tion and spoliation.
f This may possibly be meant for Ceylon ; but it would be vain to attempt
to identify the islands mentioned in this and the following chapter. Some of
the descriptions may, however, have had their foundation in what was ori-
ginally correct information, but exaggerated or misunderstood.
A.D. 13'22.] WONDERFUL ANIMALS. 2S5
he taketli one one night, and another another, and so forth in
succession ; so that he hath a thousand wives or more. And
he lies never hut one night with one of them, and another
night with another, unless one happens to be more agreeable
to him than another. Thus the king gets many children,
sometimes a hundred, sometimes two hundred, and sometimes
more. He hath also as many as fourteen thousand elephants,
or more, which are brought up amongst his serfs in all his
towns. And in case he has war with any of the kings around
him, he causes certain men of arms to go up into wooden
castles, which are set upon the elephants' backs, to fight
against their enemies ; and so do other kings thereabouts ;
and they call the elephants warkes.
And in that isle there is a great wonder ; for all kinds of
fish that are there in the sea come once a year, one kind after
the other, to the coast of that isle in so great a multitude that
a man can see hardly any thing but fish ; and there they
remain three days ; and every man of the country takes as
many of them as he likes. And that kind of fish, after the
thii'd day, departs and goes into the sea. And after them
com.e another multitude of fish of another kind, and do in the
same manner as the first did another three days ; and so on
with the other kinds, till all the divers kinds of fishes have
been there, and men have taken what they like of them.
And no man knows the cause ; but they of the country say
that it is to do reverence to their king, who is the most worthy
king in the world, as they say, because he fulfils the command-
ment of God to Adam and Eve, " Increase and multiply, and
fill the earth;" and because he multiplies so the world with
children, therefore God sends him the fishes of divers kinds,
to take at his will, for him and all his people ; and thus all
the fishes of the sea come to do him homage as the most noble
and excellent king of the world, and that is best beloved of
God, as they say.
There are also in that country a kind of snails, so great
that many persons may lodge in their shells, as men would
do in a little house. And there are other snails that are
very great, but not so huge as the other, of which, and of
great white serpents with black heads, that are as great as a
man's thigh, and some less, they make royal meats for the
king and other great lords. And if a man who is married
die in that country, they bury his wife alive with him, for
Q
22§ SIK JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322,
tliey say that it is right that she make him companj in the
other world, as she did in this.
From that country they go hy the Sea of Ocean, hy an isle
called Caffolos ; the natives of which, when their friends are
sick, hang them on trees, and say that it is hotter that birds,
which are angels of God, eat them, than the foul worms of
the earth. Then we come to another isle, the inhabitants
of which are of full cursed kind, for they breed great dogs,
and teach them to strangle their friends, when they are sick,
for they will not let them die of natural death ; for they
say that they should suffer great pain if they abide to die
by themselves, as nature would ; and, when they are thus
strangled, they eat their flesh as though it were venison.
Afterwards men go by many isles by sea to an isle called
Milk, where are very cursed people; for they delight in
nothing more than to fight and slay men ; and they drink
most gladly man's blood, which they call Dieu. And the more
men that a man may slay, the more worship he hath amongst
them. And thence they go by sea, from isle to isle, to an
isle called Tracoda, the inhabitants of which are as beasts,
and unreasonable, and dwell in caves which they make in
the earth, for they have not sense to make houses. And
when they see any man passing through their countries they
hide them in their caves. And they eat flesh of serpents,
and they speak nought, but hiss, as serpents do. After that
isle, men go by the Sea of Ocean, by many isles, to a great
and fair isle called Nacumera, which is in circuit more than
a thousand miles. And all the men and women of that isle
have dogs' heads ; and they are reasonable and of good
understanding, except that they worship an ox for their god.
And also every man of them beareth an ox of gold or silver
on' his forehead, in token that they love well their god.
And they go all naked, except a little clout, and are large
men and warlike, having a great target that covers all the
body, and a spear in their hand to fight with. And if they
take any man in battle they eat him. The king is rich and
powerful, and very devout after his law ; and he has about
his neck three hundred orient pearls, knotted, as pater-
nosters are here of amber. And as we say our Pater Noster
and Ave Maria, counting the paternosters, right so this
king says every day devoutly three hundred prayers to his
god, before he eats; and he^ beareth also about his neck an
A.D. 1322.] HILL OF ADAM AND EVE. 227
orient ruby, noble and fine, which is a foot in length, and five
fingers large. And when they choose their king, they give
^him that ruby to carry in his hand, and so they lead him
riding all about the city. And that ruby he shall bear
always about his neck; for if he had not that ruby upon
him they would not hold him for king. The chan of Cathay
has greatly coveted that ruby, but he might never have it,
neither for war, nor for any manner of goods. This king is so
righteous and equitable in his judgments, that men may go
safely through all his country, and bear with them what
they like, and no man shall be bold enough to rob them.
Hence men go to another isle called Silha, which is full
eight hundred miles in circuit. In that land is much waste,
for it is so full of serpents, dragons, and cockodrills, that no
man dare dwell there. These cockodrills are serpents, yellow
and rayed above, having four feet, and short thighs, and great
nails like claws ; and some are five fathoms in length, and
some of six, eight, or even ten; and when they go by
places that are gravelly, it appears as if men had drawn a
great tree through the gravelly place. And there are also
many wild beasts, especially elephants. In that isle is a
great mountain, in the midst of which is a large lake in a full
fair plain, and there is great plenty of water. And they of
the country say that Adam and Eve wept on that mount a
hundred years '^, when they were driven out of Paradise. And
that water, they say, is of their tears ; for so much water they
wept, that made the aforesaid lake. And at the bottom of
that lake are found many precious stones and great pearls.
In that lake grow many reeds and great canes, and there
vvithin are many cockodrills and serpents, and great water
leeches. And the king of that country, once every year,
gives leave to poor men to go into the lake to gather precious
stones and pearls, by way of alms, for the love of God,
that made Adam. To guard against the vermin, they anoint
their arms, thighs, and legs with an ointment made of a
thing called limons, which is a kind of finiit like small pease^
and then they have no dread of cockodrills, or other venom-
ous things. This water runs, flowing and ebbing, by a side
of the mountain ; and in that river men find precious stones
* Adam's Peak is in the island of Ceylon, whkh. seems to be the one here
alluded to under the name of Silha.
q2
:^
228 SIR JOHN MAUNDEYILLE. [a.D. 1322.
and pearls, in great abundance. And the people of that isle
say commonly, that the serpents and wild beasts of the coun-
try will do no harm to any foreigner that enters that country,
but only to men that are born there.
Chapter XIX.
HOW MEN KNOW EY AN IDOL IF THE SICK SHALL DIE OR NOT. — OP PEOPLE
OF DIVERS SHAPES, AND MARVELLOUSLY DISFIGURED ; AND OF THE MONKS
THAT GIVE THEIR RELIEF TO BABOONS, APES, MONKEYS, AND TO OTHER
BEASTS.
From that isle, in going by sea towards the south, is another
great isle, called Dondun, in which are people of wicked
kinds, so that the father eats the son, the son the father, the
husband the wife, and the wife the husband. And if it so
befall that the father or mother or any of their friends are
sick, the son goes to the priest of their law, and prays him to
ask the idol if his father or mother or friend shall die ; and
then the priest and the son go before the idol, and kneel
full devoutly, and ask of the idol ; and if the devil that is
within answer that he shall live, they keep him well ; and if
he say that he shall die, then the priest and the son go
with the wife of him that is sick, and they put their hands
upon his mouth and stop his breath, and so Idll him. And
after that, they chop all the body in small pieces, and pray
all his friends to come and eat; and they send for all the
minstrels of the country and make a solemn feast. And
when they have eaten the flesh, they take the bones and
bury them, and sing and make great melody. The king of
this isle is a great and powerful lord, and has under him fifty-
four great isles, which give tribute to him; and in every
one of these isles is a king crowned, all obedient to that king.
In one of these isles are people of great stature, like giants,
hideous to look upon ; and they have but one eye, which is
in the middle of the forehead ; and they eat nothing but
raw flesh and fish-. And in another isle towards the south
dwell people of foul stature and cursed nature, who have no
heads, but their eyes are in their shoulders.
In another isle are people wdio have the face all flat, with-
out nose and without mouth. In another isle are people that
* The "marvels" that follow in this paragraph are taken almost entirely
from Pliny and Solinus.
A.D. 1322.] WONDERS OF THE EAST. 229
have the lip above the mouth so great, that when they sleep
in the sun they cover all the face with that lip. And in
another isle there are dwarfs, which have no mouth, but
instead of their mouth they have a little round hole ; and
when they shall eat or drink, they take it through a pipe,
or a pen, or such a thing, and suck it in. And in another
isle are people that have ears so long that they hang down to
their knees. And in another isle are people that have horses'
feet. In another isle are people that go upon their hands
and feet like beasts, and are all skinned and feathered, and
would leap as lightly into trees, and from tree to tree, as
squirrels or apes. In another isle are hermaphrodites. And
in another isle are people that go always upon their knees,
and at every step they go it seems that they would fall ;
and they have eight toes on every foot. Many other divers
people of divers natures there are in other isles about, of the
which it were too long to tell.
From these isles, in passing by the Sea of Ocean towards
the east, by many days, men find a great kingdom called
Mancy, which is in India the Greater; and it is the best
land, and one of the fairest in all the world; and the most
delightful and plentiful of all goods. In that land dwell
many Christians and Saracens, for it is a good and great
country. And there are in it more than two thousand great
and rich cities, besides other great towns. And there is
greater plenty of people there than in any other part of India.
In that country is no needy man ; and they are very fair
people, but they are all pale. And the men have thin
and long beards, though with few hairs, scarcely any man having
more than fifty hairs in his beard, and one hair set here,
another there, as the beard of a leopard or cat. In that land
are many fairer women than in any other country beyond the
sea; and therefore they call that land Albany, because the
people are white. And the chief city of that country is called
Latoryn ; it is a day from the sea, and much larger than
Paris. In that city is a great river, bearing ships, which
go to all the coasts on the sea ; for no city of the world is so
well stored of ships. And all the inhabitants of the city and
of the country worship idols. In that country the birds are
twice as large as they are here. There are white geese, red
about the neck, with a great crest like a cock's comb upon
their heads; and they are much greater there than here
^$% SIE JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
And there is great abundance of sei'pents, of which men
make great feasts, and eat them at great solemnities. And
he that maketh there a feast, be it ever so costly, unless he
have serpents it is not esteemed.
There are many good cities in that country, and men have
great plenty of all wines and victuals cheap. In that country
are many churches of religious men of their law; and in
the churches are idols as great as giants. And to these
idols they give to eat at great festival days, in this manner :
they bring before them meat, hot from the fire, and they let
the smoke go up towards the idols; and then they say
that the idols have eaten, and then the religious men eat the
meat afterwards. In that country are white hens without
feathers, but they bear white wool, as sheep do here. In that
country, women that are unmarried carry tokens on their
heads, like coronets, to be known for unmarried. Also in
that country are beasts taught by men to go into waters,
rivers, and deep ponds, to take fish ; which beast is little, and
men call them loyres. And when men cast them into the
w^ater, anon they bring up great fishes, as many as men will.
And from that city, at a distance of many days' journey,
is another city, one of the greatest in the world, called Cansay -'S
that is to say, the city of heaven. It is full fifty miles about,
and is so populous that in one house men make ten households.
In that city are twelve principal gates ; and before each gate,
three or four miles distant, is a great town or city. That
city is situated upon a great lake on the sea, like Venice.
And in that city are more than twelve thousand bridges ; and
upon every bridge are strong and good towers, in which dwell
the wardens, to keep the city from the great chan. And on
the one side of the city runs a great river all along the city.
And there dwell Christians, and many merchants and other
people of divers nations, because the land is so good and
abundant. And there grows very good wine, which they call
bigon, which is very strong and mild in drinking. This is a
royal city, where the king of Mancy formerly resided ; and
there dwell many religious men, much resembling the order
of friars, for they are mendicants.
From that city men go by water, solacing and disporting
* This is the city called by Marco Polo (from whom Maundeville appears
to have abridged his description) Kin-sai. It was the capital of Southern
China, under the dynasty of the Song.
A.D. 132^.] CHINA. S31
them, till tliey come to an abbey of monks fast by, who are
good religious men, after their faith and law. In that abbey
is a great and fair garden, where are many trees of divers
kinds of fruits ; and m this garden is a little hill, full
of pleasant trees. In that hill and garden are various
animals, as apes, monkeys, baboons, and many other divers
beasts ; and every day, when the monks have eaten, the
almoner carries what remains to the garden, and strikes on
the garden gate with a silver clicket that he holds in his hand,
and anon all the beasts of the hill, and of divers places of the
garden, come out, to the number of three or four thousand;
mid they come in manner of poor men ; and men give them the
remnants in fair vessels of silver gilt. And when they have
eaten, the monk strikes again on the garden gate with the
clicket, and all the beasts return to the places they came from.
And they say that these beasts are souls of worthy men, that
resemble in likeness the beasts that are fair; and therefore
they give them meat for the love of God. And the other
beasts, that are foul, they say, are souls of poor men ; and
thus they believe, and no man may put them out of this
opinion. These beasts they take when they are young, and
nourish them thus with alms, as many as they may find. And
I asked them if it had not been better to have given that
relief to poor men, rather than to the beasts. And they an-
swered me, and said that they had no poor men amongst them
in that country ; and though it had been so that poor men
had been among them, yet were it greater alms to give it to
those souls that here do their penance. Many other marvels
are in that city, and in the country thereabout, that were too
long to tell you.
From that city men go by land six days to another city
called Chilenfo, of which the walls are twenty miles in cir-
cumference. In that city are sixty bridges of stone, so fair
that no man may see fairer. In that city was the first seat
of the king of Mancy, for it is a fair city and plentiful in all
goods. Hence we pass across a great river called Dalay,
■which is the greatest river of fresh w^ater in the world ; for
where it is narrov/est it is more than four miles broad. And
then men enter again the land of the great chan. That river
goes through the land of pigmies, where the people are small,
but three spans long*; and they are right fair and gentle.
* Part of this account is taken from Pliny, Hist. Nat., vii. 2.
233 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
both the men and the women. They marry ^vhen they are
half a year of age, and get children ; and they live but six or
seven years at most ; and he that liveth eight years is consi-
dered very aged. These men are the best workers of gold,
silver, cotton, silk, and of all such things, that are in the
world. x\nd they have oftentimes war with the birds of the
country, which they take and eat. This little people neither la-
bour in lands nor in vineyards ; but they have great men amongst
them, of our stature, who till the land and labour amongst the
vines for them. And of the men of our stature they have as
great scorn and w^onder as we should have among us of giants.
There is a great and fair city amongst others, with a large
population of the little people ; and there are great men dwelling
amongst them ; but when they get children they are as little
as the pigmies ; and therefore they are for the most part all
pigmies, for the nature of the land is such.
From that city men go by land, by many cities and
towns, to a city called Jamchay, w'hich is noble and rich, and
of great profit to the lord ; and thither go men to seek all
kinds of merchandise. The lord of the country hath every
year, for rent of that city, (as they of the city say,) fifty
thousand cumants of florins of gold ; for they count there all
by cumants, and every cumant is ten thousand florins of gold.
The king of that country is very powerful, yet he is under the
great chan, who hath under him twelve such provinces. In
that country, in the good towns, is a good custom ; for whoever
will make a feast to any of his friends, there are certain inns
in every good town ; and he that will make a feast will say to
the host, " Array for me, to-morrow, a good dinner for so
many people," and tells him the number, and devises him
the viands ; and he says, also, " Thus much I will spend, and
no more." And anon the host arrays for him, so fair, and
so well, and so honestly, that there shall lack nothing ; and
it shall be done sooner, and with less cost, than if it were
done in his own house. Five miles from that city, towards
the head of the river of Dalay, is another city, called jMenke,
in which is a strong navy of ships, all white as snow, from the
colour of the trees of which they are made ; and they are very
great and fair ships, and well ordained, and made with halls
and chambers, and other easements, as though it were on
land. From thence men go by many towns and many cities to
a city called Lanteryne, eight days from the city last mentioned.
A.D. 1322.] THE COUNTRY OF CATHAY. 233
This city is situated upon a fair, great, and broad river, called
Caramaron, which passes through Cathay ; and it often over-
flows and does much harm.
Chapter XX.
OP THE GREAT CHAN OF CATHAY. — OF THE ROYALTY OF HIS PALACE, AKD
HOW HE SITS AT MEAT; AND OF THE GREAT NUMBER OF OFFICERS THAT
SERVE HIM.
Cathay is a great country, fair, noble, rich, and full of mer-
chants. Thither merchants go to seek spices and all manner
of merchandises, more commonly than in any other part.
And you shall understand that merchants who come from
Genoa, or from Venice, or from Romania, or other parts
of Lombardy, go by sea and by land eleven or twelve months,
or more sometimes, before they reach the isle of Cathay,
which is the principal region of all parts beyond; and it
belongs to the great chan. From Cathay men go tow^ards
the east, by many days' journey, to a good city, between these
others, called Sugarmago, one of the best stored with silk and
other merchandises in the world. Then men come to another
old city, towards the east, in the province of Cathay, near
which the men of Tartary have made another city, called
Caydon, which has twelve gates. And between the two gates
there is always a great mile ; so that the two cities, that is to
say the old and the new, have in circuit more than twenty
miles. In this city is the seat of the great chan, in a very
great palace, the fairest in the world, the walls of which are
in circuit more than two miles ; and within the walls it is all
full of other palaces. And in the garden of the great palace
there is a great hill, upon which there is another palace, the
fairest and richest that any man may devise. And all about
the palace and the hill are many trees, bearing divers fruits.
And all about that hill are great and deep ditches ; and beside
them are great fish-ponds, on both sides ; and there is a very
fair bridge to pass over the ditches. And in these fish-ponds
are an extraordinary number of wild geese and ganders, and
wdld ducks, and swans, and herons. And all about these
ditches and fish-ponds is the great garden, fall of wild beasts,
so that, w^hen the great chan will have any sport, to take any
of the wild beasts, or of the fowls, he will cause them to be
driven, and take them at the windows, without going out of his
234 SIR JOHN MAUNDETILLE. [a.D. 1322.
chamber. Within the palace, in the hall,J:here aj[£_twent^
Jour pillaxs of fine gold; and all the walls are covered within
v\^ith red skins of animals called panthers, fair beasts and well
smelling; so that, for the sweet odour of the skins, no evil
air may enter into the palace. The skins are as red as blood,
and shine so bright against the sun that a man may scarcely
look at them. And many people worship the beasts when they
meet them first in a morning, for their great virtue and for
the good smell that they have ; and the skins they value more
than if they were plates of fine gold. And in the middle of
this palace is the mountourt- of the great chan, all wrought of
gold, and of precious stones, and great pearls ; and at the four
corners are four serpents of gold; and all about there are
made large nets of silk and gold, and great pearls hanging all
about it. And under the mountour are conduits of beverage
that they drink in the emperor s court. And beside the con-
duits are many vessels of gold, with which they that are
of the household drink at the conduit. The hall of the
palace is full nobly arrayed, and full marvellously attired on
all parts, in all things that men apparel any hall with. And
first, at the head of tne hall, is the emperor's throne, very
high, where he sits at meat. It is of fine pmau s stnue^i;.,
bordered all about with purifieC~.gQld, and. precious stonesT".
and great pearls. And the steps up to the table are of pre-
cious stones, mixed with gold. And at the left side of the
emperor's seat is the seat of his first wife, one step lower
than the emperor; and it is of jasper, bordered with gold and
precious stones. And the seat of his second wife is lower than
his first wife ; and is also of jasper, bordered with gold, as
that other is. And the seat of the third wife is still lower,
by a step, than the second wife ; for he has always three
wives with him, wherever he is. And after his wives, on the
same side, sit the ladies of his lineage, still lower, according
to their ranks. And all those that are married have a coun-
terfeit, made like a man's foot, upon their heads, a cubit long,
all wrought with great, fine, and orient pearls, and above
made with peacocks' feathers, and of other shining feathers;
and that stands upon their heads like a crest, in tok£n,th.a.tjJi,fijL.
ai'e under man's Toot, and under subjection of man^ And they
* This is the word used in the English version. The Latin has ascensorutmf
and the French, moimtaynette.
A.D. 1322.] THE GREAT CHAN. 2S5
that are unmarried have none such. And after, at the right
side of the emperor, first sits his eldest son, who shall reign
after him, one step lower than the emperor, in such manner
of seats as do the empresses ; and after him other great lords
of his lineage, each of them a step lower than the other, ac-
cording to their rank. The emperor has his table alone
by himself, which is of gold and precious stones ; or of crystal,
bordered with gold and full of precious stones ; or of amethysts,
or of lignum aloes, that comes out of Paradise ; or of ivory, bound
or bordered with gold. And each of his wives has also her
table by herself. And his eldest son, and the other lords
also, and the ladies, and all that sit with the emperor, have
very rich tables, alone by themselves. And under the em-
peror's table sit four clerks, who write all that the emperor
says, be it good or evil; for all that he says must be held
good ; for he may not change his word nor revoke it.
At great feasts, men bring, before the emperor's table, great
-tables of gold, and thereon are peacocks of gold, and many
other kinds of different fowls, all of gold, and richly
wrought and enamelled ; and they make them dance and sing,
clapping their wings together, and making great noise ; and
whether it be by craft or by necromancy I know not, but it is a
goodly sight to behold. But I have the less marvel, because
they are the most skilful men in the world in all sciences
and in all crafts ; for in subtility, malice, and forethought
they surpass all men under heaven ; and therefore they say
themselves that they see with two eyes, and the Christians
see but with one, because they are more subtle than they. I
busied myself much to learn that craft ; but the master told
me that he had made a vow to his god to teach it no creature,
but only to his eldest son. Also above the emperor's table
and the other tables, and above a great part of the hall, is a
vine made of fine gold, which spreads all about the hall ; and
it has many clusters of grapes, some white, some green,
some yellow, some red, and some black, all of precious stones:
the white are of crystal, beryl, and iris ; the yellow, of to-
pazes ; the red, of rubies, grenaz, and alabraundines ; the
green, of emeralds, of perydoz, and of chrysolites^; and the
black, of onyx and garnets. And they are all so properly
* These are old names of precious stones, which it would not be very easf
now to explain.
236 STB JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
made, that it appears a real vine, bearing natural grapes.
And before the emperor's table stand great lords, and rich
barons, and others, that serve the emperor at meat ; and no
man is so bold as to speak a word, unless the emperor speak
to him, except minstrels, that sing songs and tell jests or
other disports to solace the emperor. And all the vessels that
men are served with, in the hall or in chambers, are of pre-
cious stones, and especially at great tables, either of jasper,
or of crystal, or of amethyst, or of fine gold. And the cups
are of emeralds, and sapphires, or topazes, of perydoz, and
of many other precious stones. Vessel of silver is there
none, for they set no value on it, to make vessels of; but
they make therewith steps, and pillars, and pavements, to
halls and chambers. And before the hall door stand many
barons and knights full armed, to hinder any one from en-
tering, unless by the will or command of the emperor, except
they be servants or minstrels of the household.
And you shall understand that my fellows and T, with our
yeomen, served this emperor, and were his soldiers, fifteen
months, against the king of Mancy, who was at war with him,
because we had great desire to see his nobleness, and the
estate of his court, and all his government, to know if it were
such as we heard say. And truly we found it more noble,
and more excellent and rich, and more marvellous, than ever
we heard, insomuch that we would never have believed it
had we not seen it. For it is not there as it is here. For
the lords here have a certain number of people as they may
suffice ; but the great chan hath every day people at his cost
and expense without number. But the ordinance, nor the
expenses in meat and drink, nor the honesty, nor the clean-
liness, is not so arranged there as it is here ; for all the com-
mons there eat without cloth upon their knees ; and they eat
all manner of flesh, and little of bread. And after meat
they wipe their hands upon their skirts, and they eat but once
a day. But the estate of lords is full great, and rich, and
noble. And although some men will not believe me, but
hold it for fable, to tell them the nobleness of his person, and
of his estate, and of his court, and of the great multitude of
people that he has, nevertheless I will tell you a little of him
and of his people, according as I have seen the manner and
order full many a time ; and whoever will may believe me,
if he will, and whoever will not, may choose.
A.D. 1322.] THE GEEAT CHAN. 237
Chapter XXI.
WHEREFORE HE IS CALLED THE GREAT CHAIT. — OP THE STYLE OP HIS
LETTERS ; AND OP THE SUPERSCRIPTION ABOUT HIS GREAT SEAL AND
HIS PRIVY SEAL.
First I shall tell you why he was called the great chan.
You shall understand that all the world was destroyed by
Noah's flood, except only Noah, and his wife, and his children.
Noah had three sons, Shem, Cham (i. e. Ham), and Japheth.
This Cham was he who saw his father naked when he slept,
and showed him to his brethren in scorn, and therefore he
was cursed of God. And Japheth turned his face away, and
covered him. These three brethren shared all the land ;
and this Cham, for his cruelty, took the greater and the best
part, toward the east, which is called Asia ; and Shem took
Africa ; and Japheth took Europe ; and therefore is all the
earth parted in these three parts, by these three brethren.
Cham was the greatest and most mighty ; and of him came
more generations than of the others. And of his son Cusii
was engendered Nimrod the giant, who was the first king
that ever was in the world, and he began the foundation of
the Tower of Babylon. And that time the fiends of hell
came many times and lay with the women of his generation,
and engendered on them divers people, as monsters, and peo-
ple disfigured, some without heads, some with great ears,
some with one eye, some giants, some with horses' feet, and
many other different shapes contrary to nature. And of that
generation of Cham are come the Pagans, and different people
that are in islands of the sea about India. And forasmuch as
he was the most mighty, and no man might withstand him,
he called himself the son of God, and sovereign of all the
world. And on account of this Cham, this emperor called
himself chan and sovereign of all the world. And of the gene-
ration of Shem are come the Saracens. And of the genera-
tion of Japheth came the people of Israel. And though we
dwell in Europe, this is the opinion that the Syrians and the
Samaritans have amongst them, and that they told me before
I went towards India ; but I found it otherwise. Neverthe-
less the truth is this — that Tartars, and they that dwell in
Greater Asia, came of Cham. But the emperor of Cathay
was called not cham, but chan ; and I shall tell you how
S88 SIE JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
It is but little more than eight score years since all Tartary
was in subjection and servage to other nations about ; for they
^Yere but herdsmen, and did nothing but keep beasts, and lead
them to pastures. But among them they had seven principal
nations that were sovereigns of them all, of which the hrst
nation or lineage was called Tartar; and that is the most
noble and the most praised. The second lineage is called
Tanghot ; the third, Eurache ; the fourth, Valair ; the fifth,
Semoche; the sixth, Me gly; the seventh, Coboghe. Now it
]}efell that of the first lineage succeeded an old worthy man,
tliat was not rich, who was called Changuys-'i^. This man lay
one night in bed, and he saw in a vision that there came be-
fore him a knight armed all in w^hite, and he sat upon a white
horse, and said to him, " Chan, sleepest thou? The im-
mortal God hath sent me to thee ; and it is his will that thou
go to the seven lineages, and say to them that thou shalt be
their emperor; for thou shalt conquer the lands and the
countries that are about ; and they that march upon you shall
be under your subjection, as you have been under theirs ; for
that is God s immortal will." Changuys arose, and went to
the seven lineages, and told them what the white knight had
said. And they scorned him, and said that he was a fool ;
and so he departed from them all ashamed. And the night
following, this white knight came to the seven lineages, and
commanded them, on behalf of the immortal God, that they
should miake this Changuys their emperor, and they should
be out of subjection, and they should hold all other regions
about them in servage, as they had been to them before.
And next day they chose him to be their emperor, and set
him upon a black chest, and after that lifted him up with
great solemnity, and set him in a chair of gold, and did him
all manner of reverence ; and they called him chan, as the
white knight called him. And when he was thus chosen, he
would make trial if he might trust in them or not, and whe-
ther they would be obedient to him, and then he made many
statutes and ordinances, that they call X^LChan. '^The first
statute was, that they should believe in and obey immortal God,
who is almighty, and who would cast them out of servage, and
they should at all times call to him for help in time of need.
* This was the famous Ghengis-khan, who ruled the Moguls from 1176 to
1227, and was the founder of the Tartar empire. It is needles& to say that
the history MaundeviUe gives of his accession is a mere fable.
A.D. 1322.] STORY OF GHENGIS CIIAN. 239
The second statute was, that all manner of men that might
bear arms should be numbered, and to every ten should be a
master, and to every hundred a master, and to every thousand
a master, and to every ten thousand a master. After, he com-
manded the principals of the seven lineages to leave and for-
sake all they had in goods and heritage, and from thenceforth
to be satisfied with what he would give them of his grace.
And they did so immediately. After this he commanded the
principals of the seven lineages, that each should bring his
eldest son before him, and with their own hands smite off their
heads without delay. And immediately his command was
performed. And when the chan saw that they made no ob-
stacle to perform his commandment, then he thought that he
might well trust in them, and he commanded them presently to
make them ready, and to follow his banner. And after this,
the chan put in subjection all the lands about him. After-
wards it befell on a day, that the chan rode with a few com-
panies to behold the strength of the country that he had won,
and a great multitude of his enemies met with him, and to
give good example of bravery to his people, he was the first
that fought, and rushed into the midst of his enemies, and
there was thrown Irom his horse, and his horse slain. And
when his people saw him on the earth, they were all dis-
couraged, and thought he had been dead, and fled every one ;
and their enemies pursued them, but they knew not that the
emperor was there. And when they were returned from the
pursuit, they sought the woods, if any of them had been hid
in them ; and many they found and slew. So it happened
that as they went searching toward the place where the em-
peror was, they saw-mxoy^d sittingvon a, treaabova M^^^
then they said amongst tEem that there was no man there,
because they saw" the bird there, and so they went their way;
and thus the emperor escaped death. And then he went
secretly by night, till he came to his people, who were very
glad of his coming, and gave great thanks to immortal God,
and to that bird by which their lord was saved ; and therefore,
above all fowls of the world, they worship the owl ; and when
they have any of its feathers, they keep them full preciously,
instead of relics, and bear them upon their heads with great
reverence ; and they hold themselves blessed, and safe from
all perils, while they have these feathers on them, and there-
fore they bear them upon their heads. After all this the chan
S40 SIR JOHN MAUJS-DEVILLE. [a.D. 1322
assembled liis people, and went against those who had assailed
him before, and destroyed them, and put them in subjection
and servage. And when he had won and put all the lands and
countries on this side Mount Belian in subjection, the white
knight came to him again in his sleep, and said to him,
"Chan, the will of immortal God is, that thou pass Mount
Belian; and thou shalt win the land, and thou shalt put many
nations in subjection ; and because thou shalt find no good
passage to go toward that country, go to Mount Belian, wiiich
is upon the sea, and kneel there nine times towards the east,
in the worship of immortal God, and he shall show the w^ay
to pass by." And the chan did so. And soon the sea, that
touched and was close to the mountain, began to withdraw it-
self, and exhibited a fair way of nine feet broad ; and so he
passed with his people, and won the land of Cathay, which is
the greatest kingdom in the world. And on account of the
nine kneelings, and the nine feet of way, the chan and all
the men of Tartaryhave the number nine in great reverence*.
And, therefore, he that will make the chan any present, be it
horses, birds, arrows, bows, or fruit, or any other thing, he
must always make it of the number nine ; and so the presents
are more agreeable to him, and better received, than if he
were presented with a hundred or two hundred. Also, when
the chan of Cathay had won the country of Cathay, and put
in subjection many countries about, he fell sick. And when
he felt that he should die, he said to his twelve sons, that
each of them should bring him one of his arrows, and so they
did anonf. And then he commanded that they should bind
them together in three places, and then he gave them to his
eldest son, and bade him break them ; and he exerted him-
self with all his might to break them, but he might not.
And then the chan bade his second son break them, and so
to the others, one after another; but none of them might
break them. And then he bade the youngest son separate
them from each other, and break every one by itself; and so
he did. And then said the chan to his eldest son, and to all
* Veneration for peculiar numbers was a very general superstition, and
the number three, and its multiple, nine, were, in particular, in universal
repute.
+ This story of the king and the twelve arrows is told in very nearly
the same manner in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments; and the sub-
stance of a well-known fable will be easily recognised in it.
A.D. 1322.] HISTORY OF THE CHANS. 241
the Others, ** Wherefore might you not hreak them?" And
they answered that they might not, because they were bound
together. *'And wherefore," quoth he, "hath your little
youngest brother broke them?" "Because," quoth they,
" they were separated from each other." Then said the chan,
" My sons, truly thus will it fare with you ; for as long as
you are bound together in three places, that is to say, in love,
truth, and good accord, no man shall have power to grieve
you ; but if you be divided from these three places, that one
of you help not the other, you shall be destroyed and brought
to nothing ; and if each of you love each other, and help each
other, you shall be lords and sovereigns over all other people."
And w4en he had made his ordinances he died : and then,
after him, reigned Ecchecha* Chan, his eldest son. And his
other brethren went to subdue many countries and kingdoms,
unto the land of Prussia and Russia, and took the name of
chans, but they were all subject to their eldest brother, and
therefore was he called great chan. After Ecchecha reigned
Guyof Chan, and after him Mango J Chan, who was a good
Christian man, and baptized and gave letters of perpetual
peace to all Christian men, and sent his brother Halaon, with
a great multitude of people, to win the Holy Land, and put it
into the hands of the Christians, and destroy the law of Mo-
hammed, and take the khalif of Bagdad, who was emperor
and lord of all the Saracens. And when this khalif was
taken, they found him so rich in treasure, and of so high
worship, that in all the rest of the world no man might find
a man higher in worship. And then Halaon made him come
before him, and said to him, ^' Why hadst thou not hired
with thee more soldiers for a little quantity of treasure, to
defend thee and thy country, who art so abundant of treasure
and so high in all worship?" And the khalif answered, that
he believed he had enough of his own proper men. iVnd
then said Halaon, " Thou wert as a god of the Saracens ; and
* Oktai-khan, who ruled over the Tartars from 1229 (having been absent
in China when his father died) to 1241.
+ Gaiouk reigned from 1246 to 1249. The death of his predecessor had
been followed by a regency.
:): Mango-khan, after another regency, succeeded in 1251 ; and after con-
quering Persia and other countries, died in 1259. This monarch was made
known to Europeans by the embassy of William de Rubruquis and others,
and excited interest in the west by the report of his conversion to Chris-
tianity.
R
S42 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
it is convenient to a god to eat no meat that is mortal ; and,
therefore, thou shalt eat only precious stones, rich pearls, and
treasure, that thou lovest so much." And then he ordered
him to prison, and placed all his treasure about him; and so
he died for hunger and thirst. And then after this Halaon
won all the Land of Promise, and put it into the hands of the
Christians. But the great chan, his brother, died, and that
was great sorrow and loss to all Christians. After Mango
Chan reigned Cobyla ^ Chan, who was also a Christian, and
reigned forty-two years. He founded the great city Igonge
in Cathay, which is much larger than Rome. The other great
chan who came after him, became a pagan, and all the others
since.
The kingdom of Cathay is the greatest realm in the w^orld ;
and the great chan is the most powerful em_peror and greatest
lord under the firmament; and so he calls himself in his let-
ters right thus : " Chan, son of the high God, emperor of all
who inhabit the earth, and lord of all lords." And the letter of
his great seal has the inscription, " God in heaven, chan upon the
earth, his fortitude ; the seal of the emperor of all men." And
the superscription about his little seal is this: " The fortitude
of God ; the seal of the emperor of all men." And although
they are not christened, yet the emperor and all the Tartars
believe in immortal God ; and when they will threaten any
man, they say, "God knoweth well that I shall do thee such
a thing," and tell their menace
Chapter XXII.
OF THE GOVERNMENT OP THE GREAT CHAN'S COURT, AND WHEN HE MAKES
SOLEMN FEASTS. OF HIS PHILOSOPHERS; AND OP HIS ARRAY WHEN HE
RIDES ABROAD.
Xow shall I tell you the government of the court of the great
chan, when he makes solemn feasts, which is principally
four times in the year. The first feast is of his birth ; the
second is of his presentation in their temple, such as they call
here moseache (mosque), where they make a kind of circum-
cision ; and the other two feasts are of his idols. The first
* Mango's successor was the celebrated Houlagou (1259 to 1265), who
was followed in succession by eight khans between then and the time when
Maundeville wrote. These were followed, in 1360, by the famous Timur-beg,
or Tamerlane.
AD. 1322.] THE CHAN's COURT. 243 -
feast of the idol is, when he is first put into their temple and
throned. The other feast is, when the idol begins first to
speak or work miracles. There are no more solemn feasts,
except when he marries one of his children. At each of
these feasts he hath great multitudes of people, well ordained
and well arrayed, by thousands, by hundreds, and by tens.
Every man knoweth well what service he shall do ; and every
man gives so good heed and so good attendance to his ser-
vice, that no man finds any fault. There are first ap-
pointed four thousand barons, mighty and rich, to govern and
make ordinance for the feast, and to serve the emperor.
And these solemn feasts are held in halls and tents made
full nobly of cloths of gold and of tartaries. All the barons
have crowns of gold upon their heads, very noble and rich,
full of precious stones and great orient pearls. And they are
all clothed in clothes of gold, or of tartaries, or of camakas,
so richly and perfectly, that no man in the world can amend
it or devise better ; and all these robes are embroidered with
gold all about, and dubbed full of precious stones and of
great orient pearls, full richly. And they may well do so, for
cloths of gold and of silk are cheaper there by much, than
are cloths of wool. These four thousand barons are divided
into four companies, and every thousand is clothed in cloths
all of one colour, and so well arrayed, and so richly, that
it is marvel to behold. The first thousand, which is of
dukes, earls, marquises, and admirals, all in cloths of gold,
w^ith tissues of green silk, and bordered with gold, full
of precious stones. The second thousand is all in cloths
diapered of red silk, all wrought with gold, and the
orfrayes set full of great pearls and precious stones, full
nobly wrought. The third thousand is clothed in cloths
of silk, of purple, or of India. And the fourth thousand is
in clothes of yellow. And all their clothes are so nobly and
richly wrought with gold and precious stones and rich pearls,
that if a man of this country had but one of their robes, he
might well say that he should never be poor. For the gold
and the precious stones, and the great orient pearls, are of
greater value on this side the sea than in those countries.
And when they are thus apparelled, they go two and two
together, full orderly, before the emperor, without uttering a
word, only bowing to him. And each of them carries a
tablet of jasper, or ivory, or crystal; and the minstrels go
E 2
244 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322.
before them, sounding their instruments of divers melody.
"When the first thousand is thus passed, and hath made its
muster, it withdraws on the one side; and then enters
the second thousand, and proceeds in the same manner of
array and countenance as the first; and so the third, and
then the fourth ; and none of them utters a word. And at
one side of the emperor's table sit many philosophers, who
are proved for wise men in many divers sciences, as in
astronomy, necromancy, geomancy, pyromancy, hydromancy,
augury, and many other sciences. And each of them has
before him, some, astrolabes of gold, some, spheres, some, the
skull of a dead man, some, vessels of gold full of gravel or
sand, some, vessels of gold full of burning coals, some, vessels
of gold full of water, wine, and oil, and some, horloges (clocks) of
gold, made full nobly and richly wrought, and many other
sorts of instruments after their sciences. And at certain
hours they say to certain officers who stand before them,
appointed for the time to fulfil their commands, " Make
peace." And then the officers say, "Now peace, listen." And
after that another of the philosophers says, " Every man do
reverence, and bow to the emperor, who is God's son and
sovereign lord of all the world ; for now is time." And then
every man bows his head towards the earth. And then the
same philosopher commands again, '* Stand up." And they
do so. And at another hour another philosopher says, " Put
your little finger in your ears." And anon they do so. And
at another hour another philosopher says, " Put your hand
before your mouth." And anon they do so. And at another
hour another philosopher says, '* Put your hand upon your
head." And after that he biddeth them to take their hand
away, and they do so. And so, from hour to hour, they com-
mand certain things. And they say that those things have
divers significations. I asked them privately what those
things betokened. And one of the masters told me that the
bowing of the head at that* hour betokened that all tho^e
that bowed their heads should evern!ore after be obedient and
true to the emperor. And the putting of the little finger in the
ear betokens, as they say, that none of them shall hear any thing
spoken contradictory to the emperor, without telling it anon
to his council, or discovering it to some men that will make
relation to the emperor. And so forth of all other things
done by the philosophers. And no man performs any duty to
A.D. 1322.] CUSTOMS IN THE CHANS COURT. 245
the emperor, either clothing, or bread, or ^vine, or bath, or
other thing that belongeth to him, but at certain hours, as his
philosophers devise well. And if there fall war, anon the
philosophers come and give their advice after their calcula-
tions, and counsel the emperor by their sciences ; so that the
emperor does nothing without their council. And when the
philosophers have done and performed their commands, then
the minstrels begin to do their minstrelsy on their different
instruments, each after the other, with all the melody they can
devise. And when they have performed a good while, one of the
officers of the emperor goes up on a high stage, wrought
full curiously, and cries and says with a loud voice, " Make
peace." And then every man is still. And then, anon after,
all the lords of the emperor's lineage, nobly arrayed in rich
clothes of gold, and royally apparelled on white steeds, as
many as may well follow^ him at that time, are ready to make
their presents to the emperor. And then says the steward
of the court to the lords, by name, " N. of N.," and names
first the most noble and the worthiest by name, and says,
"Be ye ready with such a number of white horses to serve
the emperor your sovereign lord." And, to another lord, he
says, " N. of N. be ye ready with such a number to serve
your sovereign lord." And to another, right so. And to all
the lords of the emperors lineage, one after the other, as
they are of estate. And when they are all called, they
enter one after the other, and present the white horses
to the emperor, and then go their way. And then, all the
other barons, one by one, give him presents, or jewels, or
some other thing, according to their rank. And then, after
them, all the prelates of their law, and religious men and
others ; and every man gives him something. And w-hen all
men have thus offered to the emperor, the greatest of dignity
of the prelates gives him a blessing, saying an orison of
their law. And then begin the minstrels to make their
minstrelsy on divers instruments, with all the melody that
they can devise. When they have done their craft, then
they bring in before the emperor lions, leopards, and other
divers ' beasts, and eagles, and vultures, and other divers
fowds, and fishes, and serpents, to do him reverence. And
then come jugglers and enchanters that do many marvels ;
for they cause the sun and the moon to come in the air, appa-
rently, to every man's sight. And afterwards they make the
S46 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
night so dark that no man may see. And after that they
make the day to come again, fair and pleasant, with bright
sun, to every man s sight. And then they bring in dancers
of the fairest damsels in the world, and most richly arrayed
Next they cause to come in other damsels bringing cups
of gold full of milk of divers beasts, who give drink to
lords and to ladies. And then they make knights to joust
in arms full lustily; and they run together and fight iul\
fiercely; and they break their spears so rudely that the
fragments fly in pieces all about the hall. And then
they cause to come in hunting for the hart and for the
boar, with hounds running with open mouth. And many
other things they do by craft of their enchantments, which it
is marvellous to see. And such plays of sport they make,
until the taking up of the boards.
This great chan hath a vast multitude of people to serve
him, as I have told you before. For he hath of minstrels the
number of thirteen cumants, but they abide not always with
him. For all the minstrels that come before him, of whatever
nation they are, are retained with him, as of his household,
and entered in his books as for his own men. And after
that, wherever they go, evermore they rank as minstrels of
the great chan; and, under that title, all kings and lords
cherish them the more with gifts and all things. And there-
fore he hath so great multitude of them. And he hath of
certain men, as though they were yeomen, that keep birds,
as ostriches, gerfaucons, sparrow-hawks, gentle falcons, Ian-
yers, sacres, sacrettes-'s well speaking parrots, and singing
birds, and also of wild beasts, as of elephants, tame and
others, baboons, apes, monkeys, and other divers beasts, to
the number of fifteen cumants of yeomen. And of Christian
physicians he has two hundred ; and of leeches f that are
Christians, he has two hundred and ten ; and of leeches and
physicians that are Saracens, twenty ; for he trusts more in
the Christian leeches than in the Saracens. And his other
common household is without number ; all having all neces-
* These are the names of different birds used in hawking.
+ Leech was the old English name for one class of medical practitioners.
It is employed here in contradistinction to physicians, and I have not ven-
tured to assign a modern equivalent. The preference given to Christian
physicians is somewhat curious Avhen we compare it with a similar feeling
existing in the East at the present day.
A.D. 1322.] KICHES OF THE GREAT CHAN. 247
saries from the emperor's court. And he has in his court
many barons, as servitors, that are Christians and converted
to good faith by the preaching of religious Christian men
who dwell with him, and there are many that will not have it
known that they are Christians.
This emperor may spend as much as he will, without estima-
tion, for his only money is of leather imprinted, or of paper, of
which some is of greater price and some of less, after the
diversity of his statutes-''. And when that money has run so
long that it begins to waste, men carry it to the emperor's
treasury, and receive new money for the old. And that
money passes throughout the country. For there, and beyond
them, they make no money of gold or silver. Therefore, he
may spend very largely. And of gold and silver that men
have in this country, he makes ceilings, pillars, and pave-
ments in his palace, and other divers things. This emperor
hath in his chamber, in one of the pillars of gold, a ruby and
a carbuncle of half a foot long, which in the night gives so
great light and shining, that it is as light as day. And he
hath many other precious stones, and many other rubies and
carbuncles, but those are the greatest and most precious.
This emperor dwells in summer in a city towards the
north, called Saduz, where it is cold; and in winter he dwells
in a city called Camaaleche, in a hot country. But the
country where he dwells most commonly is in Gaydo, or in
^ngr^ good and temperate country after the weather that
is there ; but, to men of our part of the world, it is exces-
sively hot. And when this emperor will ride from one
country to another, he appoints four hosts of his people, of
the which, the first host goes before him a day's journey, for
that host shall be lodged the night where the emperor sliall
lie upon the morrow. And there shall every man have all
manner of victuals and necessaries at the emperor's cost.
And in this first host the number of people is fifty cumants
of horse and foot, of which every cumant amounts to ten
thousand, as I have told you before. And another host goes
on the right side of the emperor, nigh half a day's journey from
him; and another goes on the left side of him, in the same
manner. And in every host is the same number of people.
* Paper money was in common use among the Tartars and Chinese at an
early period. See, on this curious subject, the travels of Marco Polo.
mS SIK JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
Tlien after comes the fourth host, which is much greater than
anj of the other, and goes behind him, the distance of a
bow's draught. And every host has its day's journey or-
dained in certain places, where they shall be lodged at night,
and there they shall have all they need. And if it befall that
one of the host die, anon they put another in his place, so
that the number shall ever be complete. And you shall
understand that the emperor, in person, rides not as other
great lords do, unless he choose to go privately with few men,
to be imknown. Otherwise, he sits in a chariot with four
wheels, upon which is made a fair chamber ; and it is made
of a certain wood that comes out of terrestrial paradise, which
they call lignum aloes. And this chamber is fall well
smelling, because of the wood it is made of; and it is all
covered internally with plates of fine gold, dubbed with pre-
cious stones and great pearls. And four elephants and four
great steeds, all white and covered with rich coverings, draw
the chariot. And four, or five, or six of the greatest lords
ride about this chariot, full richly and nobly arrayed, so that
no man shall approach the chariot except those lords, unless
the emperor call any man to him that he wishes to speak
with. And above the chamber of this chariot in which the
emperor sits, are set upon a perch four, or five, or six gerfau-
cons, to that intent, that when the emperor sees any wild
fowl, he may take it at his own list, and have the sport,
first with one and then with another ; and so he takes his
sport passing through the country. And no man of his
company rides before him, but all after him. And no man
dare approach within a bow-shot of the chariot, except those
lords only that are about him ; and all the host come fairly
after him, in great multitude. And also such another chariot,
with such hosts, ordained and arrayed, go with the empress
upon another side, each by itself, with four hosts, right as
the emperor did, but not with so great multitude of people.
And his eldest son goes by another way in another chariot, in
the same manner. So that there is between them so great
multitude of folks that it is marvellous to tell it. And
sometimes it happens that when he will not go far, and he
chooses to have the empress and his children with him, that
they go all together; and then the people are mixed in one
company, and divided in four parts only.
The empire of this great chan is divided into twelve pro-
A.D. 1322.] THE GEEAT CHAN's COURIERS. 249
vinces ; and every province lias more than t^vo thousand
cities, and towns without number. This country is very ex-
tensive, for it has twelve principal kii^s in twelve provinces ;
and each of those kings has many kings under him ; and they
are all subject to the great chan. And his land and lordship
extends so far that a man may not go from one end to the
other, either by sea or land, in less than seven years. And
through the deserts of his lordship, where are no towns, there
are inns appointed at every day's journey, to receive both man
and horse, in which they shall find plenty of victuals and all
things they need in their way.
And there is a marvellous, but profitable, custom in that
country, that if there happen any contrary thing that should
be prejudicial or grievous to the emperor, in any kind, anon
the emperor has tidings thereof and full knowledge in a day,
though it be three or four days from him, or more. For his
envoys take their dromedaries, or their horses, and they
lide as fast as they may towards one of the inns ; and when
they come there they blow a horn, and anon they of the inn
know that there are tidings to w^arn the emperor of some
rebellion against him ; and they make other men ready, in all
haste that they may, to carry letters, and ride as fast as they
may, till they come to the other inns with their letters ; and
then they make fresh men ready, to ride forth with the letters
towards the emperor, while the last bringer rests himself, and
baits his dromedary or horse ; and so from inn to inn, till it
comes to the emperor. And thus anon he has quick tidings
of any thing by his couriers, that run so hastily through all
the country. iVnd, also, when the emperor sends his couriers
in haste throughout his land, each of them has a large thong
full of small bells ; and when they approach the inns of other
couriers, they ring their bells ; and anon the other couriers
make them ready, and run their way to another inn ; and thus
one runs to another, full speedily and swiftly, till the emperor's
intent be served in all haste. And these couriers are called
chydydo, after their language, that is to say, a messenger.
Also when the emperor goes from one country to another,
as I have told you before, and he passes through cities and
towns, every man makes a fire before his door, and puts
therein powder of good gums, that are sweet smelling, to make
good savour to the emperor ; and all the people kneel down
towards him, and do him great reverence. And there, where
250 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D, 132f^.
Christian monks dwell, as thej do in many cities in the
land, they go before him in procession, with cross and holy
water; and they smg^Veni creator spiritus, with a high
voice, and go towards him. And when he hears them, he
commands his lords to ride beside him, that the religious men
may come to him ; and w4ien they are nigh him with the cross,
then he puts down his galiot, which is placed on his head in the
manner of a chaplet, made of gold, and precious stones, and
great pearls ; and it is so rich that men esteem it the value
of a realm in that country ; and then he kneels to the cross.
And then the prelate of the monks says before him cer-
tain orisons, and gives him a blessing with the cross ; and
he bows to the blessing full devoutly. And then the prelate
gives Mm some sort of fruit, to the number of nine, in a plate
of silver ; and he takes one ; and then men give to the other
lords that are about him ; for the custom is such that no
stranger shall come before him, unless he give him some
manner of thing, after the old law, that says. Nemo accedat in
conspectu meo vacuus-^'. And then the emperor tells the
monks to withdraw themselves again, that they be not hurt
by the great multitude of horses that come behind him. And
also in the same manner do the monks that dwell there
to the empresses that pass by them, and to his eldest son ;
and to all of them they present fruit.
And you shall understand that this multitude of people
dwell not continually with him, but are sent for when he
wants them ; and after, when they have done, they return to
their own households, except those that are dwelling with him
in the household to serve him, and his wives, and sons. And
although the others are departed from him after they have
performed their service, yet there remain continually with
him in court fifty thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand
footmen, besides minstrels and those who keep wild beasts
and birds. There is not, under the firmament, so great a
lord, nor so mighty, nor so rich, as the great chan ; neither
Prester John, who is emperor of Upper India, nor the
sultan of Babylon, nor the emperor of Persia. All these, in
comparison to the great chan, are neither of might, nobleness,
royalty, nor riches ; for in all these he surpasses all earthly
princes. Wherefore it is great harm that he believes not
faithfully in God. And, nevertheless, he will gladly hear
* "And none shall appear before me empty." Exod. xxxiv. 20.
A.D. 132^.] MA^'NERS OF THE TARTARS. 251
speak of God ; and he willingly allows Christian men to dwell
in his lordship, and men of his faith to be made Christian
men, if they will, throughout all his country ; for he forbids
no man to hold any faith but what he likes.
In that country some men have one hundred wives, some
sixty, some more, and some less. And they take the next of
their kin to wife, excepting only their mothers, daughters, and
sisters on the mother's side ; but their sisters on the father's
side, of another woman, they may take ; and their brother's
wives, also, after their death ; and their stepmothers also in
the same way.
Chapter XXIII.
OF THE LAW AND CUSTOMS OF THE TARTARS IN CATHAY; AND HOW MEN
DO WHEN THE EMPEROR SHALL DIE, AND HOW HE SHALL BE CHOSEN.
The people of that country use all long clothes, without furs :
and they are clothed with precious cloths of Tartary, and
cloths of gold. And their clothes are slit at the side, and
fastened with silk lace : and they clothe them also with
pilches 'I', the hide outside. And they use neither cap nor
hood. And the women go in the same dress as the men ; so
that we can hardly distinguish the men from the women, except
only that the women that are married bear upon their heads the
token of a man's foot, in sign that they are under man's foot, and
under the subjection of man. And their wives dwell not together,
but each of them by herself; and the husband may lie with which
of them he likes. Each has a separate house, both man and
woman ; and their houses are made round with staves, with a
round window above, which gives them light, and also serves
for the escape of smoke. And the roofing of their houses,
and the walls, and the doors, are all of wood.
When they go to war, they take their houses with them
upon chariots, as men do tents or pavilions. They make their
fires in the middle of their houses. And they have a great
multitude of all manner of beasts, except swine, which they do
not breed. And they believe in one God, who made and
formed all things ; yet they have idols of gold and silver, and
of wood, and of cloth, to which they offer always the first milk
* A kind of garment made of skins with the fur on. In the Latin the
passage stands, " Habent et pelliceas, quibus utuntur ex transversis ;" in the
French, " Et vestent des pellices, le peil dehors."
252 SIK JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322.
of their beasts, and also of their meats and drinks .before they
eat. And they frequently offer horses and beasts. They call
the god of nature Yroga. Their emperor, whatever name he
has, they add always to it chan ; and, when I was there, their
emperor's name was Thiaut, so that he was called Thiaut
Chan ; and his eldest son was called Tossue ; and when he
shall be emperor, he shall be called Tossue Chan. And at
that time the emperor had twelve other sons, named Cuncy,
Ordii, Chahaday, Buryn, Negu, Nocab, Cadu, Siban, Cuten,
Balacy, Babylan, and Garegan. And of his three wives, the
first and the principal, who w^as Prester John's daughter, was
named Serioche Chan ; and the other Borak Chan ; and the
other Karanke Chan.
The people of that country begin all undertakings in the
new moon ; and they worship much the moon and the sun,
and often kneel towards them. All the people of the country
ride commonly without spurs ; but they carry always a little
w^hip in their hands to urge their horses. And they hold it
for a great sin to cast a knife in the fire, and to draw flesh out
of a pot with a knife, and to smite a horse with the handle of
a whip, or to smite a horse with a bridle, or to break one bone
with another, or to cast milk or any liquor that men may
drink upon the earth, or to take and slay little children ; and
the greatest sin that any man may do is to water in their
houses that they dwell in. And w^iosoever does so, they slay
him. And of every one of these sins they must be shriven by
their priests, and pay a great sum of silver for their penance.
The place they have thus defiled must be purified before any
one dare to enter it. And when they have paid their penance,
men make them pass through a fire, or through two, to cleanse
them of their sins. And also when any messenger comes and
brings letters, or any present, to the emperor, he must pass,
with the thing that he brings, through two burning fires, to
purge them, that he bring no poison nor venom, nor any
wicked thing, that might be grievance to the lord. And also,
if any man or woman be taken in adultery or fornication, anon
they slay them. The people of that country are all good
archers, and shoot right well, both men and w^omen, as well
on horseback, riding, as on foot, running. And the women do
all things, and exercise all manner of trades and crafts, as of
clothes, boots, and other thingaf; and they drive carts, joloughs,
wagons, and chariots ; and make houses, and all manner of
A.D. 1322.] MANNERS OF THE TARTARS. 253
things, except bows and arrows, and armour, which are made
by men. And all the women wear breeches, as well as men.
All the people of that country are very obedient to their
sovereign, and fight not nor chide with one another. And
there are neither thieves nor robbers in that country, but
every man respects the other ; but no man there doth re-
verence to strangers, except they are great princes. And
they eat dogs, lions, leopards, mares and foals, asses, rats,
and mice ; and all kinds of beasts, great and small, except
only swine, and beasts that w^ere forbidden by the old law.
They eat but little bread, except in courts of great lords ; and
they have not, in many places, either peas or beans, nor any
other pottage but the broth of the flesh ; for they eat little
else but flesh and the broth. And when they have eaten they
wipe their hands upon their skirts ; for they use no napkins
nor towels, except before great lords. And when they have
eaten, they put their dishes, unw^ashed, into the pot or cauldron,
with the remnant of the flesh and broth, till the}^ eat again.
The rich men drink milk of mares, or camels, or of asses, or
other beasts. And they are easily made drunk with milk, or
with another drink made of honey and water sodden together ;
for in that country is neither wine nor ale. They live fall
wretchedly, and eat but once in the day, and that but little,
either in courts or other places. Indeed one man alone, in
our country, will eat more in a day than they will eat in three.
x\nd if any foreign messenger come there to a lord, men make
him to eat but once a day, and that very little.
When they make war they proceed with great prudence,
and always do their best to destroy their enemies. Every
man there bears two or three bows, and great plenty of
arrows, and a great axe ; and the gentlemen have short and
large spears, very sharp on the one side ; and they have plates
and helmets made of cuirbouilli ^-j^ ; and their horses' coverings
are of the same. And whoever flies from battle, they slay
him. And when they hold a siege about a castle or town,
which is walled and defensible, they promise them that are
within to do all the profit and good, that it is marvellous to
hear ; and they grant also to them that are within all that
they will ask them; and after they have surrendered, they
slay them all, and cut off their ears, and they pickle them in
* Leather boiled soft, and then reduced to any required shape and hardened ;
a substance very much used for a yariety of purposes in the middle ages.
254 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322.
vinegar, and thereof make great service for lords. All their
desire, and all their imagination, is to reduce all countries
under their subjection; and they say that they know well, by
their prophecies, that they shall be overcome by archers ; but
they know not of what nation, nor of what law, they shall be
who shall overcome them.
When they will make their idols, or an image of any one
of their friends, to have remembrance of him, they always
make the image naked, without any kind of clothing ; for they
say that in good love there should be no covering, that man
should not love for the fair clothing, nor for the rich array,
but only for the body such as God hath made it.
And you shall understand that it is very perilous to pursue
the Tartars when they fly in battle; for in flying they shoot
behind them, and slay both men and horses. And when they
fight, they close together in a body, so that, if there be twenty
thousand men, you would not think there were ten thousand.
They can conquer land of strangers, but they cannot keep it ;
for they like better to lie in tents without, than in castles or
in towns. They despise all other people. Amongst them oil
of olives is very dear ; for they hold it for a very noble medi-
cine. All the Tartars have small eyes and little beard, and a
paucity of hair. They are false and traitorous, never keeping
their promises. They are a very hardy j)eople, and able to
endure much labour, more than any other people ; for they
are accustomed thereto in their own country from youth.
And when any man shall die, they set a spear beside him ;
and when he draws towards death, every man flies out of the
house till he is dead ; and after that they bury him in the
fields. And when the emperor dies, they place him in a
chair in the centre of his tent, with a clean table before him,
covered with a cloth, and thereon flesh and divers viands, and
a cup full of mare's milk. And men put a mare beside him,
with her foal, and a horse saddled and bridled ; and they lay
upon the horse great quantities of gold and silver, and they put
about him great plenty of straw, and they make a great and
large pit, and, with the tent and all these other things, they
put him in the earth ; and they say that when he shall come
into another world, he shall not be without a house, nor with-
out a horse, nor without gold and silver ; and the mare shall
give him milk, and bring him forth more horses, till he be
well stored in the other world ; for they believe that, after
A.D. 1322.] FUNERALS OF THE TAETAES. 255
■their death, they shall be eating and drinking in that other
world, and solacing themselves with their wives, as they did
lieje. And after the emperor is thus interred, no man shall
be so hardy as to speak of him before his friends. Many cause
themselves to be interred privately by night, in wild places,
and the grass put again over the pit, to grow ; or they cover
the pit with gravel and sand, that no man shall perceive where
the pit is, to the intent that never after may his friends have
mind or remembrance of him. Then they say that he is
ravished into another world, where he is a greater lord than
he was here. And then, after the death of the emperor, the
seven lineages assemble together and choose his eldest son, or
the next after him of his blood ; and thus they say to him : —
" We will, and we pray and ordain, that you be our lord and
our emperor." And then he answers, " If you will that I
reign over you as lord, each of you do as I shall command
him, either to abide or go ; and whomsoever I command to be
slain, that anon he be slain." And they answer all, with one
voice, " Whatsoever you command, it shall be done." Then
says the emperor, " Now understand well that my word from
henceforth is sharp and biting as a sword." After, they set
hifn upon a black steed, and so bring him to a chair full richly
arrayed, and there they crown him. And then all the cities
and good towns send him rich presents, so that at that day he
shall have more than sixty chariots laden with gold and silver,
besides jewels of gold and precious stones, that lords give him,
that are beyond estimation ; and also horses and cloths of
gold, and camakas, and cloth of Tartary, that are innumerable.
Chapter XXIV.
OP THE REALM OF THARSE, AND THE LANDS AND KINGDOMS TOWARDS THE
NORTH PARTS, IN COMING DOWN FROM THE LAND OF CATHAY.
This land of Cathay is in Central Asia; and after, on this
side, is Asia the Greater. The kingdom of Cathay borders
towards the west on the kingdom of Tharse, of which was one of
the kings that came with presents to our Lord in Bethlehem ;
and some of those who are of the lineage of that king are
Christians. In Tharse they eat no flesh, and drink no wine.
And on this side, towards the west, is the kingdom of Tur-
kestan, which extends towards the west to the kingdom
of Persia ; and toward the north to the kingdom of Cho-
rasm. In the centre of Turkestan are but few good
256 STR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
cities ; but the best city of that land is called Octorar. There
are great pastures, but little corn ; and therefore, for the
most part, they are all herdsmen; and they lie in tents, and
drink a kind of ale made of honey.
And after it, on this side, is the kingdom of Chorasm (Kho-
rasan), which is a good land and a plentiful, but without wine.
It has a desert toward the east, which extends more than a hun-
dred days' journey ; and the best city of that country is called
Chorasm, from which the country takes its name. The
people of that country are hardy warriors. And on this side
is the kingdom of Comania, whence were driven the Co-
manians that dwelt in Greece. This is one of the greatest
kingdoms of the world, but it is not all inhabited ; for in one
part there is so great cold, that no man may dwell there ;
and in another part there is so great heat, that no man can
endure it ; and also there are so many flies, that no man may
know on what side he may turn him. In that country is but
little wood or trees bearing fruit, or others. They lie in tents;
and they burn the dung of beasts for want of wood.
This kingdom descends on this side towards us, and towards
Prussia and Russia. And through that country runs the
river Ethille, which is one of the greatest rivers in the
world ; and it freezes so strongly all year, that many times
men have fought upon the ice with great armies, both parties
on foot, having quitted their horses for the time ; and what on
horse and on foot, more than 200,000 persons on every side.
And between that river and the great Sea of Ocean, which
they call the Maure Sea^, lie all these kingdoms. And towards
the head beneath in that ]'ealm is the mountain of Chotaz, which
is the highest mountain in the world; and it is between the
Maure Sea and the Caspian Sea. There is a very narrow and
dangerous passage to go towards India ; and therefore king
Alexander made there a strong city, which they call Alex-
andria, to guard the country, that no man should pass without
his leave ; and now men call that city the Gate of Hell. And
the principal city of Comania is called Sarak, which is one of
the three ways to go into India ; but by this way no great
multitude of people can pass unless it be in winter ; and that
passage men call the Derbent. The other way is from the
city of Turkestan, by Persia ; and by that way are many days'
* The Maure Sea seems to be the Northern Ocean, and the mountains of
Chotaz are perhaps .the Ourals.
A.D. 1322.] PEKSIA. 257
journey by desert ; and the third way is from Comania, by
the great sea, and by the kingdom of Abchaz.
And you shall understand that all these kingdoms and
lands above mentioned, unto Prussia and Russia, are all sub-
ject to the great chan of Cathay, and many other countries
that border on them.
Chapter XXV.
OP THE EMPEROR OP PERSIA, AND OP THE LAND OP DARKNESS, AND OP
OTHER KINGDOMS THAT BELONG TO THE GREAT CHAN OP CATHAY, AND
OTHER LANDS OP HIS, UNTO THE SEA OP GREECE.
Now, since I have spoken of the lands and the kingdoms to-
wards the north part, in coming down from the land of Cathay
unto the lands of the Christians, towards Prussia and Russia,
I will speak of other lands and kingdoms coming down
towards the right side, unto the Sea of Greece, towards the land
of the Christians. And since, after India and Cathay, the
emperor of Persia is the greatest lord, I will tell you of the
kingdom of Persia. He hath two kingdoms ; the first begins
towards the east, towards the kingdom of Turkestan, and ex-
tends towards the west to the river Pison, which is one
of the four rivers that come out of Paradise. And on another
side it extends toward the north to the Caspian Sea, and to-
ward the south to the desert of India. And this country is
good, and pleasant, and full of people, and contains many
good cities. But the two principal cities are Boycurra and
Seornergant, that some men call Sormagant*. The other
kingdom of Persia extends towards the river Pison, and the
parts of the west, to the kingdom of Media, and from the
Great Armenia toward the north to the Caspian Sea, and
towards the south to the land of India. That is also a good
and rich land, and it hath three great principal cities, Messa-
bor, Caphon, and Sarmassane.
And then after is Armenia, in which were formerly four
kingdoms ; it is a noble country, and full of goods. And it
begins at Persia, and extends towards the west in length unto
Turkey, and in breadth it extends to the city of Alexandriaf ,
that now is called the Gate of Hell, that 1 spoke of before,
under the kingdom of Media. In this Armenia are many
good cities, but Taurizo I is most of name.
* These are, no doubt, Bokhara and Samarcaiid.
f Iskendroon ] | Tabrfeez.
258 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
After this is the kingdom of Media, which is very long, but
not broad, beginning, towards the east, with the land of Persia,
and India the Less ; and it extends towards the west to the
kingdom of Chaldea, and towards the north towards Little Ar-
menia. In that kingdom of Media are many great hills
and little of level ground. Saracens dwell there, and another
kind of people called Cordines-^. The two best cities of that
kingdom are Sarras and Karemen.
After that is the kingdom of Georgia, which commences to-
wards the east, at the great mountain called Abzor, and con-
tains many people of different nations. And men call the
country Alamo. This kingdom extends towards Turkey, and
towards the Great Sea ; and towards the south it borders on
the Greater Armenia. And tiiere are two kingdoms in that
country, the kingdom of Georgia and the kingdom of Abchaz ;
and always in that country are two kings, both Christians ;
but the king of Georgia is in subjection to the great chan.
And the king of Abchaz has the stronger country, and he
always vigorously defends his country against all who as-
sail him, so that no man may reduce him to subjection. In
that kingdom of Abchaz is a great marvel ; for a province of
the country, that has well in circuit three days, w^hich they
call Hanyson, is all covered with darkness, without any
brightness or light, so that no man can see there, nor no
man dare enter into it. And, nevertheless, they of the
country say that sometimes men hear voices of people, and
horses neighing, and cocks crowing; and men know well that
men dwell there, but they know not what men. And they say
that the darkness befell by miracle of God ; for a cursed em-
peror of Persia, named Saures, pursued all the Christians to
destroy them, and to compel them to make sacrifice to his
idols, and rode with a great host, in all that ever he might, to
confound the Christians. And then, in that country, dwelt
many good Christians, who left their goods, and would have
fled into Greece ; and when they were in a plain, called Me-
gon, anon this cursed emperor met with them with his host,
to have slain them and cut them to pieces. And the Christians
kneeled to the ground, and made their prayers to God to suc-
cour them; and anon a great thick cloud came, and covered
the emperor and all his host : and so they remain in that
manner, that they may go out on no side ; and so shall they
* The KurdS; the Gordynse of the ancients.
A.D. 13'22.] TUKKEY AND MESOPOTAMIA. 259
ever more abide in darkness till doomsday, by the miracles
of God. And then the Christians went where they liked at
their own pleasure, without hindrance of any creature. And
you shall understand that out of that land of darkness issues
a great river, that shows well there are people dwelling there,
by many ready tokens ; but no man dare enter into it.
And know well that in the kingdoms of Georgia, Abchaz,
and the Little Armenia, are good and devout Christians ; for
they shrive and housel-'^ themselves always once or twice in
the week ; and many housel themselves every day.
Also after, on this side, is Turkey, which borders on the
Great Armenia. And there are many provinces, as Cappa-
docia, Saure, Brique, Quesiton, Pytan, and Gemethe ; and in
each of these are many good cities. This Turkey extends to
the city of Sathala, that sitteth upon the Sea of Greece, and
so it borders on Syria. Syria is a great and a good country,
as I have told you before. And also it has, towards Upper
India, the kingdom of Chaldea^ extending from the mountains
of Chaldea towards the east to the city of Nineveh, on the river
Tigris; in breadth it begins tow^ards the north, at the city of
Maraga, and extends towards the south to the Sea of Ocean.
Chaldea is a level country, with few hills and few rivers.
After is the kingdom of Mesopotamia, which begins to-
wards the east, at the river Tigris, at a city called Moselle f,
and extends to^vards the west to the river Euphrates, to a city
called Koianz ; and in length it extends from the mountain
of Armenia to the desert of India the Less. This is a good
and level country; but it has few rivers. There are but two
mountains in that country, of which one is called Symar, the
other Lyson. This land borders on the kingdom of Chaldea.
There are also, towards the south parts, many countries and
regions, as the land of Ethiopia, which borders tow^ards the east
on the great deserts, towards the west on the kingdom of Nubia,
towards the south on the kingdom of Mauritania, and towards
the north on the Red Sea. After is Mauritania, which extends
from the mountains of Ethiopia to Upper Lybia. And that
country lies along from the Ocean Sea towards the south, and
towards the north it borders on Nubia and Upper Lybia. The
men of Nubia are Christians. And it extends from the lands
above mentioned to the deserts of Egypt, of which I have
spoken before. And after is Upper and Lower Lybia, which
* Take the sacrament. f Mosul.
S 2
260 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1329.
descends low down, towards the great sea of Spain, in which
country are many kingdoms and different people.
Chapter XXVT.
OF THE COUNTRIES AND ISLANDS BEYOND THE LAND OF CATHAY, AND OP
THE FRUITS THERE; AND OP TWENTY-TWO KINGS INCLOSED WITHIN THE
MOUNTAINS.
In passing by the land of Cathay towards Upper India, and
towards Bucharia, men pass by a kingdom called Caldilhe,
which is a very fair country. And there grows a kind of fruit
like gourds, which, when they are ripe, men cut in two, and
find within a little beast, in flesh, bone, and blood, as though
it were a little lamb, without wool. And men eat both the
fruit and the beast, and that is a great marvel. Of that fruit
I have eaten ; and I told them of as great a marvel to them
that is amongst us, and that was of the barnacles. For I
told them that in our country were trees that bear a fruit
that becomes flying birds ; and those that fall in the water
live ; and those that fall on the earth die anon ; and they
are right good for man's meat. And thereof had they also
great marvel, that some of them thought it was an impos-
sibility. In that country are long apples, of good flavour,
whereof there are more than a hundred in a cluster; and
they have great long leaves and large, of two feet long or
more. And in that country, and in other countries there-
about, grow many trees that bear clove-gylofres and nutmegs,
and great nuts of India, and of canelle, and many other
spices. And there are vines which bear grapes so large, that
a strong man would have enough to do to carry one cluster.
In that same region are the mountains of Caspia, which are
called Uber in the country. Between those mountains are
inclosed the Jews of ten lineages, who are called Gog and
Magog ; and they may not go out on any side. There were
inclosed twenty-two kings with their people, that dwelt be-
tween the mountains of Scythia. King Alexander drove
them between those mountains, and there he thought to in-
close them through work of his men. But when he saw that
he might not do it, nor bring it to an end, he prayed to the
God of Nature that he would perform that which he had be-
gun. And although he was a Pagan, and not worthy to be
heard, yet God of his grace closed the mountains together, so
A.D. 1322.] GOG AND MAGOG. 261
that they dwell there fast locked and inclosed with high
mountains all ahout, except only on one side, and on that side
is the Caspian Sea. Men say they shall come out in the time
of Antichrist, and that they shall make great slaughter of the
Christians ; and therefore all the Jews that dwell in all lands
learn always to speak Hebrew, in hope that when the other
Jews shall go out, that they may understand their speech, and
so lead them into Christendom, to destroy the Christians.
For the Jews say that they know well, by their prophecies,
that they of Caspia shall go out, and spread through all the
world, and that the Christians shall be under subjection as
long as they have been in subjection to them. And if you
will know how they shall find their way, after what I have
heard say I will tell you. In the time of Antichrist, a fox
shall make there his trail, and burrow a hole where king
Alexander made the gates ; and so long he shall burrow and
pierce the earth, till he shall pass through, towards that peo-
ple. And when they see the fox, they shall have great won-
der of him, because they never saw such a beast ; for of all
other beasts they have some inclosed among them, except
the fox. And then they shall hunt him, and pursue him so
close, till he arrive at the same place he came from ; and then
they shall dig and burrow so strongly, till they find the gates
that king Alexander made of immense stones, well cemented
and made strong for the mastery ; and those gates they shall
break, and so go out, by finding that issue.
From that land men go towards the land of Bucharia,
where are very evil and cruel people. In that land are trees
that bear wool*, as though it were of sheep, whereof men
make clothes, and all things that may be made of wool. In
that country are many ipotaynes, that dwell sometimes in
the water and sometimes on the land ; and they are half man
and half horse, as I have said before; and they eat men,
when they may take them. And there are rivers of water
that are very bitter, three times more than is the water of
the sea. In that country are many grifiins, more abundant
than in any other country. Some men say that they have the
body upward of an eagle, and beneath of a lion ; and that
is true. But one griffin has a greater body and is stronger
than eight lions, and greater and stronger than a hundred
eagles. For one griffin there will carry, flying to his nest, a
* Cotton.
S62 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
great horse, or two oxen yoked together as they go at the
plough. For he has his talons so long, and so large and
great, as though they were horns of great oxen, or of bulls, or
of kine, so that men make cups of them to drink out of* ; and
of their ribs, and of the feathers of their wings, men make
bows full strong, to shoot with arrows and darts. From thence
men go, by many days, through the land of Prester John, the
great emperor of India. And they call his kingdom the isle
of Pentexoire.
Chapter XXVII.
OP THE EOYAL ESTATE OP PRESTER JOHN; AND OP A RICH MAN THAT
MADE A MARVELLOUS CASTLE, AND CALLED IT PARADISE, AND OP HI3
CUNNING.
This emperor, Pi'ester Johnf, possesses very extensive terri-
tory, and has many very noble cities and good towns in his
realm, and many great and large isles. For all the country
of India is divided into isles, by the great floods that come
from Paradise, that separate all the land into many parts.
And also in the sea he has full many isles. And the best city
in the isle of Pentexoire is Nyse, a very royal city, noble and
very rich. This trester John has under him many kings, and
* The editor of the edition of our author, printed in 1727, observes,
that one four feet long, in the Cotton Library, had a silver hoop about the
end, on which is engraved, Griphi unguis, divo Cuthherto Dunelmensi sacer.
Another, about an ell long, is mentioned by Dr. Grew, in his History of the
Rarities of the Royal Society, page 26 ; though the doctor there supposes it
rather the horn of a rock-buck, or of the ibex mas.
t Un-khan, or, as he was popularly called, Prester John, and the marvels
of his dominions, were for several centuries a subject of great interest to the
people of Western Europe, and were an object of anxious inquiry to all
travellers in the East. A pretended letter from this monarch to the pope,
describing his dominions, was published in Latin, French, and other lan-
guages. Much information relating to Prester John is found in Matthew
Paris, who wrote before the middle of the thirteenth century. Marco Polo
in his travels (book i. ch. xliii.) mentions the former subjection of tho
Tartars to him. Roger Bacon did not believe the extraordinary tales which
were current relative to Prester John — de quo tanta farna solebat esse, et
multa Jalsa dicta sunt et scripta. (Opus Majus, edit. Jebb, p. 232.) A
most profound and learned dissertation on the personage and history of
Prester John, by M. D'Avezac, will be found in the Introduction to his
edition of the History of the Tartars, by John du Plan-de- Carpi n, (pub-
lished in the transactions of the Greographical Society of Paris,) 4to, 1838,
p. 165-168.
A.D. 1322.] KOCKS OF LOADSTONE. 263
many isles, and many divers people of divers conditions. And
this land is full good and rich, but not so rich as the land of the
great chan. For the merchants come not thither so commonly
to buy merchandise, as they do in the land of the great chan,
for it is too far. And on the other side, in the isle of Cathay,
men find all things needful to man, cloths of gold, of silk,
and spicery. And therefore, although men have them cheap
in the isle of Prester John, they dread the long way and the
great perils in the sea. For in many places of the sea are
great rocks of stone of adamant (loadstone), which of its
nature draws iron to it; and therefore there pass no ships
that have either bonds or nails of iron in them ; and if they
do, anon the rocks of adamant draw them to them, that
they may never go thence. I myself have seen afar in that
sea, as though it had been a great isle full of trees and
bushes, full of thorns and briers, in great plenty; and the
shipmen told us that all that was of ships that were drawn
thither by the adamants, for the iron that was in them. And
of the rottenness and other things that were within the ships,
grew such bushes, and thorns, and briers, and green grass,
and such kinds of things; and of the masts and the sail-
yards, it seemed a great wood or a grove. And such rocks
are in many places there about. And therefore merchants
dare not pass there, except they know well the passages, or
unless they have good pilots. And also they dread the long
way, and, therefore, they go to Cathay, because it is nearer ;
and yet it is not so nigh but men must travel by sea and
land eleven or twelve months, from Genoa or from Venice, to
Cathay. And yet is the land of Prester John more far, by
many dreadful days' journey. And the merchants pass by
the kingdom of Persia, and go to a city called Hermes ^-s^, be-
cause Hermes the philosopher founded it. And after that
they pass an arm of the sea, and then they go to another city
called Golbache; and there they find merchandise, and as
great abundance of parrots as men find here of geese. In
that country is but little wheat or barley, and therefore they
eat rice and honey, milk, cheese, and fruit.
This emperor, Prester John, takes always to wife the
daughter of the great chan ; and the great chan also in the
* Onnuz. — The derivation is droll enough.
264 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322
same wise the daughter of Prester John. For they two are
the greatest lords under the firmament.
In the land of Prester John are many divers things and
many precious stones, so great and so large, that men make
of them plates, dishes, cups, &c. And many other marvels
are there, that it were too long to put in a book. But I will
tell you of his principal isles, and of his estate, and of his
law. This emperor Prester John is a Christian, and a great
part of his country also ; hut they have not all the articles
of our faith. They believe in the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, and they are very devout and true to one another. And
he has under him seventy-two provinces, and in every province
is a king, all which kings are tributary to Prester John. And
in his lordships are many great marvels, for in his country
is the sea called the Gravelly Sea, which is all gravel and
sand, without a drop of water ; and it ebbs and flows in great
waves, as other seas do, and it is never still. And no man
can pass that sea with ships, and, therefore, no man knows
what land is beyond that sea. And although it has no water,
men find therein, and on the banks, very good fish, of difierent
nature and shape from what is found in any other sea ; and
they are of very good taste, and delicious to eat.
Three days from that sea are great mountains, out of which
runs a great river which comes from Paradise, and it is full
of precious stones, without a drop of water, and it runs through
the desert, on one side, so that it makes the Gravelly Sea
where it ends. And that river runs only three days in the
week, and brings with it great stones and the rocks also there-
with, and that in great plenty. And when they are entered
into the Gravelly Sea they are seen no more. And in those
three days that that river runneth, no man dare enter into it,
but in the other days men dare enter well enough. Beyond
that river, more up towards the deserts, is a great plain all
gravelly between the mountains ; and in that plain, every day
at sun-rise, small trees begin to grow, and they grow till mid-
day, bearing fruit ; but no man dare take of that fruit, for it
is a thing of fairie. And after mid-day they decrease and
enter again into the earth, so that at sun-set they appear no
more; and so they do every day.
In that desert are many wild men, hideous to look on, and
horned ; and they speak nought, but grunt like pigs And
A.D. 1322.] PRESTER JOHN. 265
there is also great plenty of wild dogs. And there are many
parrots, which speak of their own nature, and salute men that
go through the deserts, and speak to them as plainly as
though it were a man. And they that speak well have a
large tongue, and have five toes upon each foot. And there
are also others which have but three toes upon each foot, and
they speak but little.
This emperor Pre«ter John, when he goes to battle against
any other lord, has no banners borne before him ; but he has
three large crosses of gold full of precious stones ; and each
cross is set in a chariot full richly arrayed. And to keep
each cross are appointed ten thousand men of arms, and more
than one hundred thousand footmen. And this number of
people is independent of the chief army. And when he has
no war, but rides with a private company, he has before him
but one plain cross of wood, in remembrance that Jesus
Christ suffered death upon a wooden cross. x\nd they carry
before him also a platter of gold full of earth, in token that
his nobleness, and his might, and his flesh, shall turn to
earth. And he has borne before him also a vessel of silver,
full of noble jewels of gold and precious stones, in token of
his lordship, nobility, and power. He dwells commonly in
the city of Susa, and there is his principal palace, which is so
rich and noble that no man can conceive it without seeing it.
And above the chief tower of the palace are two round pommels
of gold, in each of which are two large carbuncles, which
shine bright in the night. And the principal gates of his
palace are of the precious stones called sardonix; and the
border and bars are of ivory ; and the windows of the halls
and chambers are of crystal ; and the tables, on which men
eat, some are of emeralds, some of amethyst, and some of
gold, full of precious stones; and the pillars that support
the tables are of the same precious stones. Of the steps ap-
proaching his throne, where he sits at meat, one is of onyx,
another crystal, another green jasper, another amethyst, an-
other sardonix, another cornelian, and the seventh, on which
he sets his feet, is of crysolite. All these steps are bordered
with fine gold, with the other precious stones, set with great
orient pearls. The sides of the seat of his throne are of
emeralds, and bordered full nobly vdth gold, and dubbed with
other precious stones and great pearls. All the pillars in his-
chamber are of fine gold with precious stones, and with many
266 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
carbuncles, which give great light by night to all people. And
although the carbuncle gives light enough, nevertheless at all
times a vessel of crystal, full of balm, is burning, to give
good smell and odour to the emperor, and to expel all wicked
airs and corruptions. The frame of his bed is of fine sapphires
blended with gold, to make him sleep well, and to refrain him
from lechery. For he w^ll not lie with his wives but four
times in the year, after the four seasons. ^He hath also a very
fair and noble palace in the city of Nice, where he dwells when
he likes ; but the air is not so temperate as it is at the city of
Susa. And you shall understand that in his country, and in
the countries surrounding, men eat but once in the day, as
they do in the court of the great chan. And more than
thirty thousand persons eat every day in his court, besides
goers and comers, but these thirty thousand persons spend
not so much as twelve thousand of our country. This em-
peror Prester John has evermore seven kings with him, to
serve him, who share their service by certain months ; and
with these kings serve always seventy-two dukes and three
hundred and sixty earls. And all the days of the year,
twelve archbishops and twenty bishops eat in his household
and in his court. And the patriarch of St. Thomas is there
what the pope is here. And the archbishops, and the bishops,
and the abbots in that country, are all kings. And each of
these great lords know^s well the attendance of his service.
One is master of his household, another is his chamber-
lain, another serveth him with a dish, another with a cup,
another is steward, another is marshal, another is prince of
his arms ; and thus is he full nobly and royally served. And
his land extends in extreme breadth four months' journey,
and in length out of measure, including all the isles under
earth, that we suppose to be under us.
Near the isle of Pentexoire, which is the land of Prester
John, is a great isle, long and broad, called Milsterak, which
is in the lordship of Prester John. That isle is very rich.
There was dwelling not long since a rich man, named Gatho-
lonabes, who was full of tricks and subtle deceits. He had
a fair and strong castle in a mountain, so strong and noble
that no man could devise a fairer or a stronger. And he
had caused the mountain to be all walled about with a strong
and fair wall, within which walls he had the fairest garden
that might be imagined ; and therein were trees bearing all
A.D. 1322.] THE FALSE PARADISE. 267
manner of fruits, all kinds of herbs of virtue and of good
smell, and all other herbs also that bear fair flowers. And
he had also in that garden many fair wells, and by them he
had made fair halls and fair chambers, painted all with gold
and azure, representing many divers things and many divers
stories. There were also beasts and birds w^hich sung full
delectably, and moved by craft, that it seemed that they were
alive. And he had also in his garden all kinds of birds and
beasts, that men might have play or sport to behold them.
And he had also in that place the fairest damsels that might
be found under the age of fifteen years, and the fairest young
striplings that men might get of that same age; and they
were all clothed full richly in clothes of gold ; and he said
they were angels. And he had also caused to be made three fair
and noble wells, all surrounded with stone of jasper and crystal,
diapered with gold, and set with precious stones and great
orient pearls. And he had made a conduit under the earth,
so that the three wells, at his will, should run one with milk,
another with wine, and another with honey. And that place he
called Paradise. And when any good knight, who was hardy
and noble, came to see this royalty, he would lead him into
Paradise, and show him these wonderful things, for his sport,
and the marvellous and delicious song of divers birds, and
the fair damsels, and the fair wells of milk, wine, and honey,
running plentifully. There he would let divers instruments
of music sound in a high tower, so merrily that it was joy to
hear, and no man should see the craft thereof; and those he
said were angels of God, and that place was Paradise, that
God had promised to his friends, saying " I will give you a
land flowing with milk and honey." And then he would
make them drink of certain drink, whereof anon they should
be drunk ; after which they seemed to have greater delight
than they had before. And then would he say to them, that
if they would die for him and for his love, after their death
they should come to his paradise ; and they should be of the
age of the damsels, and they should play with them and yet they
would remain maidens. And after that he w^ould put them in a
fairer paradise, where they should see the God of Nature visibly,
in his majesty and bliss. And then would he show them his
intent, and tell them, if they would go and slay such a lord or
such a man who was his enemy, or disobedient to his will, they
should not fear to do it, or to be slain themselves in doing it ;
268 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
for after their death he would put them into another paradise
that was a hundred fold fairer than any of the others ; and
there should they dwell with the fairest damsels that might
he, and play with them evermore. And thus went many
divers lusty bachelors to slay great lords in divers countries,
that were his enemies, in hopes to have that paradise. And
thus he was often revenged of his enemies by his subtle
deceits and false tricks. But when the worthy men of the
country had perceived this subtle falsehood of this Gatho-
lonabes, they assembled with force, and assailed his castle, and
slew him, and destroyed all the fair places of that paradise.
The place of the wells and of the walls and of many other
things are yet clearly to be seen, but the riches are clean
gone. And it is not long ago since that place was destroyed.
Chapter XXVIII.
OF THE devil's HEAD IN THE PERILOUS VALLEY; AND OP THE CUSTOMS OF
PEOPLE IN DIVERS ISLES THAT ARE ABOUT, IN THE LORDSHIP OF PRESTER
JOHN.
Near that isle of Mistorak, upon the left side, nigh to the
river of Pison, is a marvellous thing. There is a vale be-
tween the mountains which extends nearly four miles ; and
some call it the Enchanted Vale, some call it the Vale of
Devils, and some the Perilous Vale. In that vale men hear
oftentimes great tempests and thunders, and great murmurs
and noises, day and night; and great noise, as it were, of
tabors, and nakeres, and trumpets, as though it were of a great
feast. This vale is all full of devils, and has been always ;
and men say there that it is one of the entrances of hell.
In that vale is great plenty of gold and silver ; wherefore many
misbelieving men, and many Christians also, oftentimes go in,
to have of the treasure ; but few return, especially of the mis-
believing men, for they are anon strangled by the devils.
And in the centre of that vale, under a rock, is a head and
the visage of a devil bodily, full horrible and dreadful to
see, and it shows but the head to the shoulders. But there
is no man in the world so bold. Christian or other, but
he would be in dread to behold it, and he would feel almost
dead with fear, so hideous is it to behold. For he looks
at every man so sharply with dreadful eyes, that are ever
moving and sparkling like fire, and changes and stirs so often
A.D. 1322.] THE PERILOUS VALLEY. 269
in divers manners, with so horrible a countenance, that no
man dare approach towards him. And from him issues smoke,
and stink, and fire, and so much abomination that scarce any
man may endure there. But the good Christians, that are
stable in their faith, enter without peril ; for they will first
shrive them, and mark them with the sign of the holy cross,
so that the fiends have no power over them. But although
they are without peril, yet they are not without dread when
they see the devils visibly and bodily all about them, that
make full many divers assaults and menaces, in air and on
earth, and terrify them with strokes of thunder blasts and of
tempests. And the greatest fear is that God will take ven-
geance then of that which men have misdone against his will.
And you shall understand that when my fellows and I were
in this vale, we were in great thought whether we durst put
our bodies in aventure, to go in or not, in the protection of
God ; and some of our fellows agreed to enter, and some not.
So there were with us two worthy men, friars minors of
Lombardy, who said that if any man would enter they would
go in with us ; and when they had said so, upon the gracious
trust of God and of them, we heard mass, and every man was
shriven and housled ; and then we entered, fourteen persons,
but at our going out we were but nine. And so we never
knew whether our fellows were lost, or had turned back for
fear ; but we never saw them after. They were two men of
Greece, and three of Spain. And our other fellows, that
would not go in with us, went by another road to be before
us; and so they w^ere. And thus we passed that Perilous
Vale, and found therein gold and silver, and precious stones,
and rich jewels, in great plenty, both here and there, as it
seemed ; but whether it was as it seemed I know not, for I
touched none; because the devils are so subtle to make a
thing to seem otherwise than it is, to deceive mankind ; and
therefore I touched none ; and also because that I would not
be put out of my devotion, for I was more devout then than
ever I was before or after, and all for the dread of fiends that
I saw in divers figures ; and also for the great multitude of
dead bodies that I saw there lying by the way, in all the vale,
as though there had been a battle between two kings, and the
mightiest of the country, and that the greater party had been
discomfited and slain. And I believe that hardly should any
country have so many people in it as lay slain in that vale.
270 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1322.
as it seemed to us, which was a hideous sight to see. And I
marvelled much that there were so many, and the bodies all
whole, without rotting; but 1 believe that fiends made them
seem to be so fresh, without rotting. And many of them were
in habits of Christian men ; but I believe they were such as
went in for covetousness of the treasure that was there,
and had overmuch feebleness in faith ; so that their hearts
might not endure in the belief for dread. And therefore we
were the more devout a great deal ; and 3^0 1 we were cast
down and beaten down many times to the hard earth by
winds, and thunders, and tempests ; but evermore Ged of his
grace helped us. And so we passed that perilous vale without
peril and without encumbrance, thanked be almighty God !
After this, beyond the vale, is a great isle, the inhabitants
of which are great giants of twenty-eight or thirty feet long,
with no clothing but skins of beasts, that they hang upon
them ; and they eat nothing but raw flesh, and drink milk of
beasts. They have no houses to lie in. And they eat more
gladly man's flesh than any other flesh. Into that isle dare
no man enter ; and if they see a ship, and men therein, anon
they enter into the sea to take them. And men told us that
in an isle beyond that were giants of greater stature, some of
forty-five or fifty feet long, and even, as some men say, of fifty
cubits long ; but I saw none of those, for I had no lust to go
to those parts, because that no man comes either into that
isle or into the other but he will be devoured anon. And
among those giants are sheep as great as oxen here, which
bear great rough wool. Of the sheep I have seen many times.
And men have said many times those giants take men, in the
sea, out of their ships, and bring them to land, two in one
hand and two in the other, eating them going, all raw and
alive. In another isle, towards the north, in the Sea of Ocean,
are very evil women, who have precious stones in their eyes ;
and if they behold any man with wrath, they slay him with the
look. In another isle, which is fair and great, and full of
people, the custom is, that the first night that they are mar-
ried they make another man to lie by their wives, to have
their maidenhead, for which they give great hire and much
thanks. And there are certain men in every town that serve
for no other thing ; and they call them cadeberiz, that is to
say, the fools of despair, because they believe their occupation
is a dangerous one. After that is another isle, where women
A.D. 1322.] CUSTOMS OF THE ISLANDS. 271
make great sorrow when their children are born ; and when
they die, they make great feasts, and great joy and revel, and
then they cast them into a great burning fire. And those that
love well their husbands, if their husbands die, they cast
themselves also into the fire, with their children, and burn
them. In that isle they make their king always by election ;
and they choose him not for nobleness or riches, but such a
one as is of good manners and condition, and therewithal just;
and also that he be of great age, and that he have no children.
In that isle men are very just, and they do just judgments
in every cause, both of rich and poor, small and great, ac-
cording to their trespasses. And the king may not judge a
man to death without assent of his barons and other wise men
of council, and unless all the court agree thereto. And if the
king himself do any homicide or crime, as to slay a man, or
any such- case, he shall die for it; but he shall not be slain
as another man ; but they forbid, on pain of death, that any
man be so bold as to make him company or to speak with
him, or give or sell him meat or drink ; and so shall he die
disgracefully. They spare no man that has trespassed, either
for love, or favour, or riches, or nobility; but that he shall
have according to what he has done.
Beyond that isle is another, where is a great multitude of
people, who will not eat flesh of hares, hens, or giese ; and
yet they breed them in abundance, to see and behold them
only ; but they eat flesh of all other beasts, and drink milk.
In that country they take their daughters and their sisters to
wife, and their other kinswomen. And if there be ten or
twelve men, or more, dwelling in a house, the wife of each of
them shall be common to them all that dwell in that house ;
so that every man may lie with whom he will of them on one
night, and with another another night. And if she have any
child, she may give it to what man she list that has kept com-
pany with her; so that no man knows there whether the
child be his or another's. And if any man say to them that
they nourish other men's children, they answer that so do
other men theirs. In that countiy, and in all India, are great
plenty of cockodrills, a sort of long serpent, as I have said
before ; and in the night they dwell in the water, and in the
day upon the land, in rocks and caves ; and they eat no meat
in winter, but lie as in a dream, as do serpents. These ser-
pents slay men, and they eat them weeping ; and when they
272 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1322.
eat, they move the upper jaw, and not the lower jaw; and
they have no tongue^ In that country, and in many others
beyond, and also in many on this side, men sow the seed
of cotton ; and they sow it every year, and then it grows to
small trees, which bear cotton. And so do men every year,
so that there is plenty of cotton at all times. In this isle
also, and in many others, there is a manner of wood, hard and
strong ; and whoever covers the coals of that wood under the
ashes thereof, the coals will remain alive a year or more. And
among other trees there are nut trees, that bear nuts as great
as a man's head ^^. There are also animals called orafles, which
are called, in Arabia, gerfauntz. They are spotted, and a
little higher than a horse, with a neck twenty cubits long;
and the croup and tail are like those of a hart ; and one of
them may look over a high house f . And there are also in that
country many cameleons ; and there are very great serpents,
some one hundred and twenty feet long, of divers colours, as
rayed, red, green and yellow, blue and black, and all speckled.
And there are others that have crests upon their heads ; and
they go upon their feet upright. And there are also wild
swine of many colours, as great as oxen in our country, all
spotted like young fawns. And there are also hedgehogs, as
great as wild swine, which we call porcupines. And there are
many othfer extraordinary animals.
Chapter XXIX.
OP THE GOODNESS OF THE PEOPLE OP THE ISLE OP BRAGMAN. — OP KING ALEX-
ANDER, AND WHY THE EMPEROR OP INDIA IS CALLED PRESTER JOHN.
And beyond that isle is another isle, great and rich, where are
good and true people, and of good living after their belief, and
of good faith. And although they are not christened, yet by
natural law they are full of all virtue, and eschew all vices ;
for they are not proud, nor covetous, nor envious, nor wrathful,
nor gluttonous, nor lecherous ; nor do they to any man otherwise
than they would that other men did to them; and in this
point they fulfil the ten commandments of God. And they
care not for possessions or riches; and they lie not, nor do
they swear, but say simply yea and nay ; for they say he that
sweareth will deceive his neighbour; and therefore all that
* Probably cocoa-nuts.
f This is apparently the giraffe.
A.D. 1322.] THE ISLE OF BBAGMAN. 273
they do, they do it without oath. And that isle is called the
isle of Bragman, and some men call it the Land of Faith ; and
through it runs a great river called Thebe. And in general
all the men of those isles, and of all the borders thereabout,
are truer than in any other country thereabout, and more just
than others in all things. In that isle is no thief, no mur-
derer, no common woman, no poor beggar, and no man was
ever slain in that country. And they be as chaste, and lead
as good a life, as though they were monks ; and they fast all
days. And because they are so true, and so just, and so full
of all good conditions, they are never grieved with tem-
pests, nor with thunder and lightning, nor with hail, nor with
pestilence, nor with war, nor with famine, nor with any other
tribulation, as we are many times amongst us for our sins ;
wherefore it appears evident that God loveth them for their
good deeds. They believe well in God that made all things,
and worship him ; and they prize no earthly riches ; and they
live full orderly, and so soberly in meat and drink, that they
live right long. And the most part of them die without sick-
ness, when nature faileth them for old age. And it befell, in
king Alexander's time, that he purposed to conquer that isle ;
but when they of the country heard it, they sent messengers
to him with letters, that said thus : — " What may we be now
to that man to whom all the world is insufficient? Thou
shalt find nothing in us to cause thee to war against us ; for
we have no riches, nor do we desire any ; and all the goods of
our country are in common. Our meat, with which we sustain
our bodies, is our riches ; and instead of treasure of gold and
silver, we make our treasure of acorns and peas, and to love
one another. And to apparel our bodies we use a simple cloth
to wrap our carcase. Our wives are not arrayed to make
any man pleased. When men labour to array the body, to
make it seem fairer than God made it, they do great sin ; for
man should not devise nor ask greater beauty than God hath
ordained him to have at his birth. The earth ministeretb to
us two things ; our livelihood, that cometh of the earth that
we live by, and our sepulchre after our death. We have been
in perpetual peace till now that thou art come to disinherit
us ; and also we have a king, not to do justice to every man, for
he shall find no forfeit among us ; but to keep nobleness, and
to show that we are obedient, we have a king. For justice
has among us no place ; for we do to no man otherwise than
T
274 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1332.
we desire that men do to us, so that righteousness or ven-
geance have nought to do among us; so that thou mayest
take nothing from us but our good peace, that always hath
endured among us." And when king Alexander had read
these letters, he thought that he should do great sin to trouble
them.
There is another isle called Oxidrate, and another called
Gymnosophe, where there are also good people, and full of good
faith ; and they hold, for the most part, the same good condi-
tions and customs, and good manners, as men of the country
above mentioned ; but they all go naked. Into that isle entered
king Alexander, to see the customs ; and when he saw their
great faith, and the truth that was amongst them, he said
that he would not grieve them, and bade them ask of him
what they would have of him, riches or any thing else, ^nd
they should have it with good will. And they answered that
he w^as rich enough that had meat and drink to sustain the
body with ; for the riches of this world, that is transitory, are
of no worth ; but if it were in his power to make them im-
mortal, thereof would they pray him, and thank him. And
Alexander answered them that it was not in his power to do
it, because he was mortal, as they were. And then they asked
him why he was so proud, and so fierce, and so busy, to put all
the world under his subjection, " right as thou wert a God,
and hast no term of this life, neither day nor hour; and
covetest to have all the world at thy command, that shall
leave thee without fail, or thou leave it. And right as it hath
been to other men before thee, right so it shall be to others
after thee, and from hence shalt thou carry nothing ; but as
thou wert born naked, right so all naked shall thy body be
turned into earth, that thou wert made of. Wherefore thou
shouldst think, and impress it on thy mind, that nothing is
immortal but only God, that made all things." By which
answer Alexander was greatly astonished and abashed, and all
confused departed from them.
Many other isles ^'^ there are in the land of Prester John,
and many great marvels, that were too long to tell, both of
his riches and of his nobleness, and of the great plenty also
of precious stones that he has. I think that you know well
now, and have heard say, why this emperor is called Prester
* I have omitted some paragraphs preceding this, which are mere repro-
ductions of the wonderful ethnographic stories of Pliny and Soiinus.
A.D. 1322.] PRESTER JOHN. 275
John. There was some time an emperor there, who was a
worthy and a full noble prince, that had Christian knights in
his company, as he has that now is. So it befell that he had
great desire to see the service in the church among Chris-
tians ; and then Christendom extended beyond the sea, includ-
ing all Turkey, Syria, Tartary, Jerusalem, Palestine, Arabia,
Aleppo, and all the land of Egypt. So it befell that this em-
peror came, with a Christian knight with him, into a church
in Egypt; and it was the Saturday in Whitsuntide. And
the bishop was conferring orders ; and he beheld and listened
to the service full attentively; and he asked the Christian
knight what men of degree they should be that the prelate
had before him ; and the knight answered and said that they
were priests. And then the emperor said that he would no
longer be called king nor emperor, but priest ; and that he
would have the name of the first priest that went out of the
church ; and his name was John. And so, evermore since,
he is called Prester John.
CH4PTER XXX.
OP THE HILLS OF GOLD THAT ANTS KEEP ; AND OP THE FOUR STREAMS THAT
COME FROM TERRESTRIAL PARADISE.
Towards the east of Prester John's land is a good and great isle
called Taprobane, and it is very fruiitful ; and the Idng thereof is
rich, and is under the obeisance of Prester John. And there
they always make their king by election. In that isle are two
summers and two winters ; and men harvest the corn twice a
year ; and in all seasons of the year the gardens are in flower.
There dwell good people, and reasonable ; and many Christian
men among them, who are so rich that they know not what to
do with their goods. Of old time, when men passed from the
land of Prester John unto that isle, men made ordinance to
pass by ship in twenty- three days or more ; but now men pass
by ship in seven days. And men may see the bottom of the
sea in many places ; for it is not very deep.
Beside that isle, towards the east, are two other isles, one
called Grille, the other Argyte, of which all the land is mines
of gold and silver. And those isles are just where the
Ked Sea separates from the Ocean Sea. And in those isles
men see no stars so clearly as in other places ; for there
appears only one clear star called Canopus. And there the
T 2
276 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE [A.D. 1322.
moon is not seen in all the lunation, except in the second
quarter. In the isle, also, of this Taprobane are great hills of
gold, that ants keep full diligently^.
And beyond the land, and isles, and deserts of Prester
John's lordship, in going straight towards the east, men find
nothing but mountains and great rocks ; and there is the dark
region, where no man may see, neither by day nor night, as
they of the country say. And that desert, and that place of
darkness, lasts from this coast unto Terrestrial Paradise,
where Adam, our first father, and Eve were put, who dwelt
there but a little while ; and that is towards the east, at the
beginning of the earth. But this is not that east that we call
our east, on this half, where the sun rises to us ; for when the
sun is east in those parts towards Terrestrial Paradise, it is
then midnight in our parts on this half, on account of the round-
ness of the earth, of which I have told you before ; for our Lord
God made the earth all round, in the middle of the firma-
ment. And there have mountains and hills been, and val-
leys, which arose only from Noah's flood, that wasted the soft
and tender ground, and fell down into valleys ; and the hard
earth and the rock remain mountains, when the soft and ten-
der earth was worn away by the water, and fell, and became
valleys.
Of Paradise I cannot speak properly, for I was not there.
It is far beyond ; and I repent not going there, but I was not
worthy. But as I have heard say of wise men beyond, I
shall tell you with good will. Terrestrial Paradise, as wise
men say, is the highest place of the earth ; and it is so high
that it nearly touches the circle of the moon there, as the
moon makes her turn. For it is so high that the flood
of Noah might not come to it, that would have covered all
the earth of the world all about, and above and beneath,
except Paradise. And this Paradise is inclosed all about
with a wall, and men know not whereof it is ; for the wall
is covered all over with moss, as it seems ; and it seems
not that the wall is natural stone. And that wall stretches
from the south to the north ; and it has but one entry, which
is closed with burning fire, so that no man that is mortal dare
enter. And in the highest place of Paradise, exactly in the
middle, is a well that casts out the four streams, which run by
* Here follows the story of the ants that keep the gold, taken from Pliny,
Hist. Nat. xi. 31, and found in other ancient writers.
A.D. 1322.] THE WAY TO PAKADISE. 277
divers lands, of whicli the first is called Pison, or Ganges, that
runs throughout India, or Emlak, in which river are many
precious stones, and much lignum aloes, and much sand of gold.
And the other river is called Nile, or Gyson, which goes through
Ethiopia, and after through Egypt. And the other is called
Tigris, which runs by Assyria, and by Armenia the Great.
And the other is called Euphrates, which runs through
Media, Armenia, and Persia. And men there beyond say
that all the sweet waters of the world, ahove and beneath,
take their beginning from the well of Paradise ; and out of
that well all waters come and go. The first river is called
Pison, that is, in our language, Assembly; for many other
rivers meet there, and go into that river. And some call it
Ganges, from an Indian king, called Gangeres, because it ran
through his land. And its water is in some places clear,
and in some places troubled ; in some places hot, and in some
places cold. The second river is called Nile, or Gyson, for it
is always troubled ; and Gyson, in the language of Ethiopia,
is to say Trouble, and in the language of Egypt also. The
third river, called Tigris, is as much as to say. Fast Running ;
for it runs faster than any of the others. The fourth river
is called Euphrates, that is to say. Well Bearing ; for there grow
upon that river corn, fruit, and other goods, in great plenty.
And you shall understand that no man that is mortal may
approach to that Paradise ; for by land no man may go for
wild beasts, that are in the deserts, and for the high moun-
tains, and great huge rocks, that no man may pass by for the
dark places that are there ; and by the rivers may no man
go, for the water runs so roughly and so sharply, because it
€omes down so outrageously from the high places above, that
it runs in so great waves that no ship may row or sail against
it : and the water roars so, and makes so huge a noise, and so
great a tempest, that no man may hear another in the ship,
though he cried with all the might he could. Many great
lords have assayed with great will, many times, to pass by
those rivers towards Paradise, with full great companies ; but
they might not speed in their voyage; and many died for
weariness of rowing against the strong waves ; and many of
them became blind, and many deaf, for the noise of the water ;
and some perished and were lost in the waves ; so that no
mortal man may approach to that place without special grace
of God ; so that of that place I can tell you no more.
378 SIR JOHN MAtTNDEVILLE. [A.D. 1332.
Chapter XXXT.
OF THE CUSTOMS OF KINGS AND OTHERS THAT DWELL IN THE ISLES BOE»
DERING ON PRESTER JOHN'S LAND.
From those isles that I have spoken of before, in the land of
Prester John, that are under earth as to us, and of other isles
that are further beyond, whoever will pursue them may come
again right to the parts that he came from, and so environ all
the earth ; but what for the isles, what for the sea, and what
for strong rowing, few people assay to pass that passage. x\nd
therefore men return from the isles beforesaid by other isles,
coasting, from the land of Prester John. And then come men,
in returning, to an isle called Casson, which is full sixty days
in length, and more than fifty in breadth. This is the best
isle, and the best kingdom, that is in all those parts, except
Cathay ; and if the merchants used that country as much as
they do Cathay, it would be better than Cathay in a short
time. This country is well inhabited, and so full of cities
and good towns, and inhabited with people, that when a man
goes out of one city he sees another city before him. In that
isle is great plenty of all goods to live with, and of all manner
of spices ; and there are great forests of chestnuts. The king
of that isle is very rich and mighty ; and yet he holds his land
of the great chan, and is subject to him; for it is one of the
twelve provinces which the great chan has under him, besides
his own land, and other less isles, of which he has many.
From that kingdom come men, in returning, to another
isle, called Rybothe, which, also, is under the great chan.
It is a full good country, and rich in all goods, and wine
and fruit, and all other riches. And the people of that country
have no houses ; but they dwell and lie all under tents made
of black fern. And the principal city, and the most royal, is
all walled with black and white stone; and all the streets,
also, are paved with the same stones. In that city is no man
so hardy as to shed blood of any man, nor of any beast, for
the reverence of an idol that is worshipped there. And in
that isle dwells the pope of their law, whom they call lobassy.
This lobassy gives all the benefices, and other dignities, and
all other things that belong to the idol. In that isle they
have a custom, in all the country, that when any man's father
is dead, and the son wishes to do great honour to his father.
A.D. 1322.] CUSTOMS OF THE ISLANDS. 279
he sends to all his friends, and to all his kin, and for religious
men and priests, and for minstrels also, in great plenty ; and
then they bear the dead body unto a great hill, with great
joy and solemnity; and when they have brought it thither,
the chief prelate smites off the head, and lays it upon a great
platter of gold and silver, if he be a rich man ; and then he
gives the head to the son ; and then the son and his other kin
sing and say many prayers ; and then the priests, and the
religious men, smite all the body of the dead man in pieces ;
and then they say certain prayers. And the birds of prey of
all the country about know the custom for a long time before,
and come flying above in the air, as eagles, kites, ravens,
and other birds that eat flesh. And then the priests cast the
bits of flesh, and each fowl takes what he may, and goes
a little thence and eats it ; and they do so wMst any piece
of the dead body remains. And after that the priests sing with
high voice, in their language, " Behold how worthy a man, and
how good a man this was, that the angels of God came to seek
him, and to bring him into Paradise." And then it seems to
the son that he is highly worshipped when many birds, and
fowls, and ravens, come and eat his father ; and he that has
most number of fowls is most worshipped. • Then the son
brings home with him all his kin, and his friends, and all the
others, to his house, and makes a great feast ; and then all his
friends make their boast how the fowls came thither, here five,
here six, here ten, and there twenty, and so forth; and they
rejoice greatly to speak thereof. And when they are at meat
the son brings forth the head of his father, and thereof he
serves of the flesh to his most special friends, as a dainty.
And of the skull he makes a cup, and drinks out of it with his
other friends in great devotion, in remembrance of the holy
man that the angels of God had eaten. And that cup the
son shall keep to drink out of all his lifetime, in remembrance
of his father.
From that land, in returning by ten days through the land
of the great chan, is another good isle, and a great kingdom,
where the king is full rich and mighty. And amongst the
rich men of his country is a passing rich man, that is neither
prince, nor duke, nor earl ; but he has more that hold of him
lands and other lordships ; for he has every year, of annual
rent, more than three hundred thousand horses charged with
corn of divers grains and rice; and so he leads a full noble
Ji80 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. 1329.
and delicate life, after the custom of the country ; for he has
every day fifty fair damsels, all maidens, that serve him
evermore at his meat, and to lie by him at night, and
to do with them what he pleases. And when he is at the
table, they bring him his meat at every time, five and five
together; and in bringing their service they sing a song.
And after that they cut his meat, and put it in his mouth ;
for he touches nothing, nor handles nought, but holds ever-
more his hands before him upon the table ; for he has such
long nails that he may take nothing, nor handle any thing.
For the nobleness of that country is to have long nails, and to
make them grow always to be as long as men may ; and there
are many in that country that have their nails so long that
they environ all the hand; and that is a great nobleness.
And the nobleness of the women is to have small feet ; and
therefore, as soon as they are born, they bind their feet so
tight that they may not grow half as nature would. And
always these damsels, that I spoke of before, sing all the time
that this rich man eateth; and when he eateth no more
of his first course, then other five and five of fair damsels
bring him his second course, always singing, as they did
before ; and so they do continually every day, to the end of
his meat. And in this manner he leads his life ; and so they
did before him that were his ancestors ; and so shall they that
come after him, without doing of any deeds of arms, but live
evermore thus in ease, as a swine that is fed in a sty to be
made fat. He has a full fair and rich palace, the walls of
which are two miles in circuit ; and he has within many fair
gardens, and many fair halls and chambers ; and the pavement
of his halls and chambers are of gold and silver. And in the
middle of one of his gardens is a little mountain, where there
is a little meadow ; and in that meadow is a little house, with
towers and pinnacles, all of gold ; and in that little house will
he sit often to take the air and sport himself.
And you shall understand that of all these countries and
isles, and of all the divers people that I have spoken of be-
fore, and of divers laws, and of divers beliefs that they have,
there is none of them all but they have some reason and
understanding in them, and they have certain articles of
our faith, and some good points of our belief; and they
believe in God that created all things and made the world ;
but yet they cannot speak perfectly (for there is no man to
A.P. 1322.] IDOLATRY OF THE ISLANDS. 281
teach them), but only what they can devise by their natural
understanding ; for they have no knowledge of the Son nor of
the Holy Ghost ; but they can all speak of the Bible, namely
of Genesis, of the Prophets' laws, and of the books of Moses.
And they say well that the creatures that they worship are no
gods ; but they worship them for the virtue that is in them.
And of simulacres, and of idols, they say that there are no
people but that they have simulacres; and tliey say that
we Christian men have images, as of our lady, and of other
saints, that we worship ; not the images of wood or of stone,
but the saints in whose name they are made ; for right as the
books of the Scripture teach the clerks how and in what
manner they shall believe, right so the images and the
paintings teach the ignorant people to worship the saints,
and to have them in their minds, in whose name the images
are made. They say, also, that the angels of God speak to
them in those idols, and that they do many great miracles.
And they say truth, that there is an angel within them ; for
there are two manner of angels, a good and an evil ; as the
Greeks say, Cache and Calo. This Cache is the wicked angel,
and Calo is the good angel : but the other is not the good
angel, but the wicked angel, which is within the idols to de-
ceive them and maintain them in their error.
There are many other divers countries, and many other
marvels beyond, that I have not seen; wherefore I cannot
speak of them properly. And, also, in the countries where I
have been are many diversities of many wonderful things,
more than I make mention of; for it were too long a thing to
devise you the manner of them all. And therefore now that
I have devised you of certain countries, which I have spoken
of before, I beseech your worthy and excellent nobleness that
it suffice to you at this time ; for if I told you all that is beyond
the sea, another man, perhaps, who would labour to go into
those parts to seek those countries, might be blamed by my
words in rehearsing many strange things ; for he might not
say any thing new, in the which the hearers might have either
solace or pleasure.
And you shall understand that, at my coming home, I came
to Eome, and showed my life to our holy father the pope, and
was absolved of all that lay in my conscience of many divers
grievous points, as men must need that are in company,
dwelling amongst so many divers people, of divers sects and
282 SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE. [a.D. ] 322.
beliefs, as I have been. And, amongst all, I showed him this
treatise, that I had made after information of men that knew
of things that I had not seen myself; and also of marvels and
customs that I had seen myself, as far as God would give me
grace ; and besought his holy fatherhood that my book might
be examined and corrected by advice of his wise and discreet
council. And our holy father, of his special grace, gave my
book to be examined and proved by the advice of his said
council, by the which my book was proved for true, insomuch
that they showed me a book, which my book was examined by,
that comprehended full much more, by an hundredth part, by
the which the Mappa Mundi was made. And so my book
(albeit that many men list not to give credence to any thing
but to what they see with their eye, be the author or the person
ever so true) is affirmed and proved by our holy father in
manner and form as I have said.
And I, John Maundeville, knight, abovesaid, (although I be
unworthy,) that went from our countries, and passed the sea,
in the year of Grace 1322, have passed many lands, and many
isles and countries, and searched many full strange places, and
have been in many a full good and honourable company, and
at many a fair deed of arms, (albeit that I did none myself,
for my insufficiency,) now I am come home (in spite of myself)
to rest ; for rheumatic gouts, that distress me, fix the end of
my labour, against my will (God knoweth). And thus, taking
comfort in my wretched rest, recording the time passed, I have
fulfilled these things, and written them in this book, as it
would come into my mind, the year of Grace 1356, in the
thirty-fourth year that T departed from our country. Where-
fore I pray to all the readers and hearers of this book, if it
please them, that they would pray to God for me, and I shall
pray for them.
283
THE TRAVELS OF
BEETRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE.
A.D. 1432, 1433.
To animate and inflame the hearts of such noble men as may
be desirous of seeing the world, and by the order and com-
mand of the most high, most powerful, and my most re-
doubted lord, Philip, by the grace of God duke of Burgundy,
Lorraine, Brabant^ and Limbourg, count of Flanders, Artois,
and Burgundy*, palatine of Hainault, Holland, Zealand, and
Namur, marquis of the Holy Empire, lord of Friesland, Sa-
lines, and Mechlin, I, Bertrandon de la Brocquiere, a native
of the duchy of Guienne, lord of Vieux- Chateau, counsellor
and first esquire-carver to my aforesaid most redoubted lord,
after bringing to my recollection every event, in addition to
what I had made an abridgment of in a small book by way
of memorandums, have fairly written out this account of my
short travels, in order that if any king or Christian prince
should wish to make the conquest of Jerusalem, and lead
thither an army overland, or if any gentleman should be de-
sirous of travelling thither, they may be made acquainted
with all the towns, cities, regions, countries, rivers, moun-
tains, and passes in the different districts, as well as the lords
to whom they belong, from the duchy of Burgundy to Jeru-
salem. The route hence to the holy city of Rome is too well
known for me to stop and describe it. I shall pass lightly
over this article, and not say much until I come to Syria. I
have travelled through the whole country from Gaza, which
is the entrance to Egypt, to within a day s journey of Aleppo,
a town situated on the north of the frontier, and which we
pass in going to Persia.
Having formed a resolution to make a devout pilgrimage
to Jerusalem, and being determined to discharge my vow, I
* Burgundy was divided into two parts, the duchy and county. The
last, since known under the name of Franche Comte, began, at this period,
to take that appellation ; and this is the reason why our author styles Philip
duke and count of Burgundy.
284 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [A.D. 1432.
quitted, in the month of February, 1432, the court of my
most redoubted lord, which was then at Ghent. After tra-
versing Picardy, Champagne, and Burgundy, I entered Savoy,
crossed the Rhone, and arrived at Chambery by the Mont-du-
Chat. Here commences a long chain of mountains, the
highest of which is called Mount Cenis, which forms a dan-
gerous pass for travellers in times of snow. The road is so
difficult to find, that a traveller, unless he wish to lose it,
must take one of the guides of the country, called Marrons.
These people advise you not to make any sort of noise that
may shake the atmosphere round the mountain, for in that
case the snow is detached, and rolls with impetuosity to the
ground. Mount Cenis separates Italy from France.
Having thence descended into Piedmont, a handsome and
pleasant country, surrounded on three sides by mountains, I
passed through Turin, where I crossed the Po, and proceeded
to Asti, which belongs to the duke of Orleans; then to Alex-
andria, the greater part of the inhabitants of which are said
to be usurers — to Piacenza, belonging to the duke of Milan —
and at last to Bologna la Grassa, which is part of the pope's
dominions. The emperor Sigismund was at Piacenza; he
had come thither from Milan, where he had received his se-
cond crown, and was on his road to Rome in search of the
third *. From Bologna I had to pass another chain of moun-
tains (the Appennines) to enter the states of the Florentines.
Florence is a large town, where the commonalty govern.
Every three months they elect for the government magistrates,
called priori, who are taken from different professions; and
as long as they remain in office they are honoured, but on
the expiration of the three months they return to their former
situations. From Florence I went to Monte Pulciano, a
castle built on an eminence, and surrounded on three sides
by a large lake (Lago di Perugia), thence to Spoleto, Monte
Fiascone, and at length to Rome.
Rome is well known. Authors of veracity assure us that
for seven hundred years she was mistress of the world. But
although their writings should not affirm this, would there
not be sufficiency of proof in all the grand edifices now exist-
* In 1414, Sigismund, elected emperor, had received the silver crown at
Aix-la-Chapelle. In the month of November, 1431, a little before the pas-
sage of our traveller, he had received the iron crown at Milan ; but it was
not until 1443 he received at Home, from the hands of the pope, that of gold.
A.D. 1432.] VENICE. 285
ing, in those columns of marble, those statues, and those
monuments as marvellous to see as to describe? Add to the
above the immense quantities of relics that are there;
so many things that our Lord has touched, such numbers of
holy bodies of apostles, martyrs, confessors, and virgins ; in
short, so many churches where the holy pontiffs have granted
full indulgences for sin. I saw there Eugenius IV., a Vene-
tian, who had just been elected pope*. The prince of Saler-
num had declared war against him; he was of the Colonna
family, and nephew to pope Martin f.
I quitted Rome the 25th of March, and, passing through a
town belonging to count de Thalamone, a relation to the car-
dinal des Ursins, arrived at Urbino; thence I proceeded
through the lordships of the Malatestas to Rimini, a part of
the Venetian dominions. I crossed three branches of the
Po, and came to Chiosa, a town of the Venetians, which had
formerly a good harbour ; but this was destroyed by them-
selves when the Genoese came to lay siege to Venice. From
Chiosa, I landed at Venice, distant twenty-five miles
Venice is a large and handsome town, ancient and commer-
cial, and built in the middle of the sea. Its different quar-
ters being separated by water form so many islands, so that a
boat is necessary to go from one to the other. This town
possesses the body of St. Helena, mother of the emperor
Constantine, as well as many others that I have seen, espe-
cially several bodies of the Holy Innocents, which are entire.
These last are in an island called Murano, renowned for its
manufactories of glass. The government of Venice is full of
wisdom. No one can be a member of the council, nor hold
any employment, unless he be noble and bom in the town.
It has a duke, who is bound to have ever with him, during the
day, six of the most ancient and celebrated members of the
council. When the duke dies, his successor is chosen from
* We shall see hereafter, that la Brocquiere left Rome on the 25th
March, and Eugenius had been elected on the first days of the month. There
is some doubt whether his election took place on the 3rd, 4th, or 6th of
March; he occupied the papal see till Feb. 23, 1447.
+ Martin v., predecessor to Eugenius, was a Colonna; and there was a
declared enmity Ijetween his family and that of the Orsini. Eugenius, when
established in the holy chair, took part in this quarrel, and sided with the
Orsini against the Colonnas, who were nephews to Martin. The last took
up arms, and made war on him.
286 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432.
among those who have shown the greatest knowledge and
zeal for the public good.
On the 8th of May I embarked to accomplish my vow, on
board a galley, with some other pilgrims. We sailed along
the coast of Sclavonia, and successively touched at Pola, Zara,
Sebenico, and Corfu. Pola seemed to me to have been for-
merly a handsome and strong town, with an excellent harbour.
We were shown at Zara the body of St. Simeon, to whom our
Lord was presented in the Temple. The town is surrounded
on three sides by the sea, and its fine port is shut in by an
iron chain. Sebenico belongs to the Venetians, as does Corfu,
which, with a very handsome harbour, has also two castles.
From Corfu we sailed to Modon, a good and fair town in
the Morea, also belonging to the Venetians ; thence to Can-
dia, a most fertile island, the inhabitants of which are excel-
lent sailors. The government of Venice nominates a gover-
nor, who takes the title of duke, but who holds his place only
three years. Thence to Rhodes, where I had but time to see
the town ; to Baffa, a ruined town in the island of Cyprus ; and
at length to Jaffa, in the Holy Land of Promise.
At Jaffa, the pardons commence for pilgrims to the Holy
Land. It formerly belonged to the Christians, and was then
strong ; at present it is entirely destroyed, having only a few
tents covered with reeds, whither pilgrims retire to shelter
themselves from the heat of the sun. The sea enters the
town, and forms a bad and shallow harbour; it is dangerous
to remain there long for fear of being driven on sbore by a
gust of wind. There are two springs of fresh water; but
one is overflowed by the sea when the westerly wind blows a
little strong. When any pilgrims disembark here, interpre-
ters and other officers of the sultan ^-i^ instantly hasten to as-
certain their numbers, to serve them as guides, and to receive,
in the name of their master, the customary tribute.
Ramie, the first town we came to from Jaffa, is without
walls, but a good and commercial town, seated in an agree-
able and fertile district. We went to visit, in the neighbour-
hood, a village where St. George was martyred ; and, on our
return to Ramie, we continued our route, and arrived, after
* The sultans of Egypt are here meant. Palestine and Syria were at
that time imder their power. The sultan will be often mentioned in the
course of the work.
A.D. 1432.] BETHLEHEM— JEKUSALEM. 287
two days, at the holy city of Jerusalem, where our Lord Jesus
Christ suffered death for us. After making the customary
pilgrimages, we performed those to the mountain where Jesus
fasted forty days ; to the Jordan, where he was baptized ; to
the church of St. John, near to that river; to that of St.
Martha and St. Mary Magdalene, where our Lord raised Laza-
rus from the dead ; to Bethlehem, where he was born ; to the
birth-place of St. John the Baptist; to the house of Zacha-
riah ; and, lastly, to the holy cross, where the tree grew that
formed the real cross, after which we returned to Jerusalem.
The Cordeliers have a church at Bethlehem, in which they
perform divine service, but they are under great subjection to
the Saracens. The town is only inhabited by Saracens, and
some Christians of the girdle^.
At the birth-place of St. John the Baptist, a rock is shown,
which, during the time of Herod's persecution of the inno-
cents, opened itself miraculously in two, w^hen St. Elizabeth
having therein hid her son, it closed again of itself, and the
child remained shut up, as it is said, two whole days.
Jerusalem is situated in a mountainous and strong country,
and is at this day a considerable town, although it appears to
have been much more so in former times. It is under the
dominion of the sultan, to the shame and grief of Christen-
dom. Among the free Christians, there are but two Corde-
liers who inhabit the holy sepulchre, and even they are
oppressed by the Saracens ; I can speak of it from my own
knowledge, having been witness of it for two months. In
the church of the Holy Sepulchre reside also many other sorts
of Christians, Jacobites, Armenians, Abyssinians from the
country of Prester John, and Christians of the girdle ; but of
these the Franks suffer the greatest hardships.
When all these pilgrimages were accomplished, we under-
took another, equally customary, that to St. Catherine's on
Mount Sinai. For this purpose we formed a party of ten
pilgrims, Sir Andre de Thoulongeon, Sir Michel de Ligne,
Guillaume de Ligne, his brother, Sanson de Lalaing, Pierre
de Vaudrey, Godefroi de Thoisi, Humbert Buffart, Jean de la
Eoe, Simonetf, and myself.
"*■ See before, p. 189.
+ The family name of this person is left blank in the original. These
names, of which the first five are those of great lords in the states of the
duke of Burgundy, show that several persons of the duke's coui't had formed
/i88 BEETRANDON DE LA BROCQIJIERE. [A-D. 1432.
For the information of others, who, like myself, may wish
to visit this country, I shall say, that the custom is to treat
■with the chief interpreter at Jerusalem, who receives a tax
for the sultan, and one for himself, and then sends to inform
the interpreter at Gaza, who, in his turn, negotiates a passage
with the Arabians of the desert. These Arabs enjoy the
right of conducting pilgrims; and, as they are not always
under due subjection to the sultan, their camels must be used,
which they let to hire at ten ducats a head. The Saracen
who at this time held the ojQfice of chief interpreter was called
Nanchardin. Having received the answer from the Arabs,
he called us together before the chapel, which is at the
entrance and on the left of the holy sepulchre ; he there took
down in writing our ages, names, surnames, and very par-
ticular descriptions of our persons, and sent a duplicate of
this to the chief interpreter at Cairo. These precautions are
taken for the security of travellers, and to prevent the Arabs
from detaining any of them ; but I am persuaded that it is
done likewise through mistrust, and through fear of some ex-
change or substitution that may make them lose the tribute-
money. On the eve of our departure we bought wine for
the journey, and laid in a stock of provision, excepting bis-
cuit, which we were to find at Gaza. Nanchardin having
provided asses and mules to carry us and our provision, with
a particular interpreter, we set off.
The first place we came to was a village formerly more con-
siderable, at present inhabited by Christians of the girdle,
who cultivate vines. The second was a town called St. Abra-
ham, and situated in the valley of Hebron, where our Lord
created our first father Adam. In that place are buried
together Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their wives ; but
this sepulchre is now inclosed within a mosque of the Sara-
cens. We were anxious to see it, and even advanced to the
gate; but our guides and interpreter assured us they dared not
suffer us to enter in the day-time, on account of the dangers
they should run, and that any Christian found within a
mosque is instantly put to death, unless he renounces his
a company for this pilgrimage to Palestine, and are, probably, those who em-
barked with our author at Venice, although he has not before named them.
Toulongeon was created this same year, 1432, a knight of the golden fleece,
but was not invested with the order; for he was then a pilgrim, and died on
the road.
A.D. 1432.] GAZA. 289
religion. After the valley of Hebron, we traversed another
of greater extent, near to which the mountain on which St.
John performed his penitence was pointed out to us. Thence
we crossed a desert country, and lodged in one of those houses
built through charity, and called khan; from this khan we
came to Gaza.
Gaza, situated in a fine country near the sea, and at the
entrance of the desert, is a strong town, although uninclosed.
It is pretended that it formerly belonged to the famous Sam-
son. His palace is still shown, and also the columns of that
w^iich he pulled down ; but I dare not affirm that these are
the same. Pilgrims are harshly treated there ; and we also
should have suffered, had it not been for the governor, a man
about sixty years of age, and a Circassian, who heard our
complaints and did us justice. Thrice were we obliged to
appear before him; once, on account of the swords we wore,
and the two other times for quarrels which the Saracen
moucres sought to have with us. Many of us wished to pur-
chase asses ; for the camel has a very rough movement, which
is extremely fatiguing to those unaccustomed to it. An ass
is sold at Gaza for two ducats; but the moucres not only
wanted to prevent our buying any, but to force us to hire asses
from them, at the price of five ducats, to St. Catherine's.
This conduct was represented to the governor. For myself,
who had hitherto ridden on a camel, and had no intention of
changing, I desired they would tell me how I could ride a
camel and an ass at the same time. The governor decided
in our favour, and ordered that we should not be forced to
hire any asses from the moucres against our inclinations. We
here laid in fresh provisions necessary for the continuance of
our journey; but, on the eve of our departure, four of my
companions fell sick, and returned to Jerusalem. I set off
with the five others, and we came to a village situated at the
entrance of the desert, and the only one to be met with between
Gaza and St. Catherine's. Sir Sanson de Lalaing also there
quitted us, and returned ; so that our company consisted of
Sir Andrew de Toulongeon, Pierre de Yaudrei, Godefroi de
Toisi, Jean de la Koe, and myself.
We thus travelled two days in the desert, absolutely without
seeing any thing deserving to be related. Only one morning
I saw, before sunrise, an animal running on four legs, about
three feet long, but scarcely a palm in height. The Ai'a-
u
290 BERTBANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [A.D. 1432,
Hans fled at the sight of it, and the animal hastened to hide
itself in a hush hard by. Sir iVndrew and Pierre de Vaudrei
dismounted, and pursued it sword in hand, when it began to
cry like a cat on the approach of a dog. Pierre de Vaudrei
struck it on the back with the point of his sword, but did it
no harm, from its being covered with scales like a sturgeon.
It sprung at Sir Andrew, who, with a blow from his sword,
cut the neck partly through, and flung it on its back, with its
feet in the air, and killed it. The head resembled that of a
large hare; the feet were like the hands of a young child,
with a pretty long tail, like that of the large green lizard.
Our Arabs and interpreter told us it was very dangerous -i^.
At the end of the second day's journey I was seized with
such a burning fever that it was impossible for me to proceed.
My four companions, distressed at this accident, made me
mount an ass, and recommended me to one of our Arabs,
whom they charged to reconduct me, if possible, to Gaza.
This man took a great deal of care of me, which is unusual
in respect to Christians. He faithfully kept me company,
and led me in the evening to pass the night in one of their
camps, w^hich might consist of fourscore and some tents,
pitched in the form of a street. These tents consist of two
poles stuck in the ground by the bigger end, at a certain
distance from each other, and on them is placed another pole
cross- way, and over this last is laid a thick coverlid of woollen,
or coarse hair. On my arrival, four or five Arabs, who were
acquainted with my companion, came to meet us. They dis-
mounted me from my ass, and laid me on a mattress which I
had with me, and then, treatiug me according to their
method, kneaded and pinched me so much with their hands f ,
that from fatigue and lassitude I slept and reposed for six
hours. During this time no one did me the least harm, nor
took any thing from me. It would, however, have been very-
easy for them to do so ; and I must have been a tempting
prey, for I had v/ith me two hundred ducats, and two camels
laden with provision and wdne.
* From this vague description, it should seem that the animal spoken of
was the great lizard, called monitor, because it is pretended that it gives
information of the approach of a crocodile. The monitor is common in the
Euphrates, where it is sometimes seen four or five feet in length. The
terror of the Arabs was groundless.
+ This is what is called in French, masser, a method used in several
parts of the east for certain disorders.
A.D. 1432.] EETUKN TO JERUSALEM. S9l
I set out, on my return to Gaza, before day ; but when T
came thither, I found neither my four companions who had
remained behind nor Sir Sanson de Lalaing : the whole five
had returned to Jerusalem, carrying with them the interpreter.
Fortunately I met with a Sicilian Jew to whom I could make
myself understood ; and he sent me an old Samaritan, who,
by some medicines which he gave me, appeased the great
heat I endured. Two days after, finding myself a little
better, I set off in company with a Moor, who conducted me
by a road on the sea-side. We passed near Ascalon, and
thence traversed an agreeable and fertile country to Eamle,
where I regained the road to Jerusalem.
On the first day's journey I met on my road the governor
of that town returning from a pilgrimage, with a company of
fifty horsemen, and one hundred camels, mounted principally
by women and children, who had attended him to his place
of devotion. I passed the night with them, and the morrow,
on my return to Jerusalem, took up my lodgings with the
Cordeliers at the church of Mount Sion, where I again met
my five comrades.
. On my arrival I went to bed, that my disorder might be
properly treated ; but I was not cured, or in a state to depart,
until the 19th of August. During my convalescence I re-
collected that I had frequently heard it said that it was im-
possible for a Christian to return overland from Jerusalem to
France. I dare not, even now, when I have performed this
journey, assert that it is safe. I thought, nevertheless, that
nothing was impossible for a man to undertake, who has a
constitution strong enough to support fatigue, and has money
and health. It is not, however, through vain boasting that I
say this ; but, with the aid of God and his glorious mother,
who never fail to assist those who pray to them heartily, I
resolved to attempt the journey. I kept my project secret
for some time, without even hinting it to my companions : I
was also desirous, before I undertook it, to perform other
pilgrimages, especially those to Nazareth and Mount Tabor.
I went, in consequence, to make Nanchardin, principal inter-
preter to the sultan, acquainted with my intentions, who sup-
plied me with a sufficient interpreter for my journey. I
thought of making my first pilgrimage to Mount Tabor, and
every thing was prepared for it ; but when I was on the point
of setting out, the head of the convent where I lodged dis-
u 2
292 BEETBANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [A.D. 1432.
suaded me, and opposed my intentions most strongly. The
interpreter, on his side, refused to go, saying, that in the
present circumstances I should not find any person to attend
me ; for that the road lay through the territories of towns
which were at war with each other, and that very lately a Ve-
netian and his interpreter had been assassinated there. I
confined myself, therefore, to the second pilgrimage, in which
Sir Sanson de Lalaing and Humbert wished to accompany
me. We left Sir Michel de Ligne sick at Mount Sion, and
his brother William remained with his servant to attend on
him. The rest of us set off on the day of mid- August, with
the intention of going to Jaffa by way of Ramie, and from
Jaffa to Nazareth ; but, before I departed, I went to the tomb
of our Lady, to implore her protection for my grand journey
home. I heard divine service at the Cordeliers, and saw there
people who call themselves Christians, but some of them are
very strange ones, according to our notions.
The principal monk at Jerusalem was so friendly as to ac-
company us as far as Jaffa, with a Cordelier friar of the con-
vent of Beaune. They there quitted us, and we engaged a
bark from the Moors, which carried us to the port of Acre.
This is a handsome port, deep and well inclosed. The town
itself appears to have been large and strong ; but at present
there do not exist more than three hundred houses, situated
at one of its extremities, and at some distance from the sea.
With regard to our pilgrimage, we could not accomplish it.
Some Venetian merchants, whom we consulted, dissuaded us,
and from what they said we gave it up. They told us, at
the same time, that a galley from Narbonne was expected at
Baruth ; and my comrades being desirous to take that oppor-
tunity of returning to France, w^e consequently followed the
road to that town. We saw, on our way thither, Sur, an in-
closed town, with a good port, then Seyde, another sea-port
tolerably good. Baruth has been more considerable than it
is now, but its port is still handsome, deep, and safe for
vessels. On one of its points we see the remains of a strong
castle which it formerly had, but which is now in ruins *.
* Sur is the ancient Tyre — Seyde, Sidon — Baruth, Berytus. What la
Brocquiere here says is interesting for geography : it proves that all these
sea-ports of Syria, formerly so commercial and famous, but at this day so
degraded and completely useless, were, in his time, for the greater part, fit
for commerce.
A.D. 1432.] DAMASCUS. 293
As for myself, solely occupied with my grand journey, I
employed the time we staid in this town in seeking informa-
tion concerning it; and to this end addressed myself to a
Genoese merchant, called Jacques Pervezin. He advised me
to go to Damascus, assuring me that I should find there
merchants from Venice, Catalonia, Florence, Genoa, and other
places, whose counsels might gaide me. He even gave me a
letter of recommendation to a countryman of his, named Otto-
bon Escot. Being resolved to consult Escot before I proceeded
farther, I proposed to Sir Sanson to go and see Damascus,
without, however, telling him any thing of my project. He
accepted my proposal with pleasure, and we set out under the
conduct of a moucre. I have before said that the moucres
in Syria are the people whose trade is conducting travellers,
and hiring out to them asses and mules.
On quitting Baruth, we had to traverse some high moun-
tains to a long plain, called the valley of Noah, because it is
said that Noah there built the ark. This valley is not, at
the utmost, more than a league wide ; but it is pleasant and
fertile, watered by two rivers, and peopled by Arabs. As far
as Damascus, we continued to travel betw^een mountains, at
whose feet are many villages and vineyards. But I warn
those who, like me, shall have occasion to make this journey, to
take good care of themselves during the night, for in my life
I never felt such cold. This excess of cold is caused by the
fall of the dew '5^, and it is thus throughout Syria. The
greater the heat during the day, the more abundant the dew
and the cold of the night.
It is two days' journey from Baruth to Damascus. The
Mohammedans have established a particular custom for Chris-
tians all through Syria, in not permitting them to enter the
towns on horseback. None that are known to be such dare
do it, and, in consequence, our moucre made Sir Sanson and
myself dismount before we entered any town. Scarcely had
we arrived in Damascus than about a dozen Saracens came
round to look at us. I wore a broad beaver hat, which is un-
usual in that country ; and one of them gave me a blow with
a staff, which knocked it off my head on the ground f. I own
that my first movement was to lift my fist at him ; but the
* More probably the cold was caused by the ascent of Mount Libanus.
f It is onlj'- lately that the people of Damascus have been cured of their
bigoted conduct towards black hats.
^94 BEETEANDON DE LA BEOCQUIEEE. [a.D. 1432.
moucre, throwing himself between us, pushed me aside, and
very fortunately for me he did so, for in an instant we were
surrounded by thirty or forty persons ; and if I had given a
blow, I know not what would have become of us. I mention
this circumstance to show that the inhabitants of Damascus
are a wicked race, and, consequently, care should be taken to
avoid any quarrels with them. It is the same in other Mo-
hammedan countries. I know by experience that you must
not joke with them, nor at the same time seem afraid, nor
appear poor, for then they will despise you; nor rich, for
they are very avaricious, as all who have disembarked at Jaffa
know to their cost.
Damascus may contain, as I have heard, one hundred thou-
sand souls. The town is rich, commercial, and, after Cairo,
the most considerable of all in the possession of the sultan.
To the north, south, and east is an extensive plain : to the
west rises a mountain, at the foot of which the suburbs are
built. A river runs through it, which is divided into several
canals. The town only is inclosed by a handsome wall, for the
suburbs are larger than the town. I have nowhere seen such
extensive gardens, better fruits, nor greater plenty of water.
This is said to be so abundant, that there is scarcely a house
without a fountain. The governor is only inferior to the
sultan in all Syria and Egypt ; but, as at different times some
governors have revolted, the sultans have taken precautions
to restrain them within proper bounds. Damascus has a
strong castle on the side toward the mountain, with wide and
deep ditches, over which the sultan appoints a captain of his
own friends, who never suffers the governor to enter it. It
was, in 1400, destroyed and reduced to ashes by Tamerlane.
Vestiges of this disaster now remain ; and toward the gate of
St. Paul there is a whole quarter that has never been rebuilt.
There is a khan in the tow^n, appropriated as a deposit and place
of safety to merchants and their goods. It is called Khan Ber-
kot, from its having originally been the residence of a person
of that name. For my part, I believe that Berkot was a
Frenchman "'' ; and what inclines me to this opinion is, that
on a stone of the house are carved fleur-de-lis, which
appear as ancient as the walls. Whatever may have been
* This explanation may possibly admit of a doubt ; hir, in Arabic, signi-
iies a well ; hut is also an Arabic word frequently found in names of places,
as Kut-el-Amara, &c.
A.D. 1432.] DAMASCUS. 295
his origin, lie was a very gallant man, and to this day enjoys
a high reputation in that country. Never during his lifetime,
and while he was in power, could the Persians or Tartars gain
the smallest portion of land in Syria. The moment he learned
that one of their armies was advancing, he instantly marched
to meet it, as far as the river, heyond Aleppo, that separates
Syria from Persia, and which, from a guess of the situation,
I believe to he the river Jehon, which falls into the Misses in
Turcomania*. The people of Damascus are persuaded that,
had he lived, Tamerlane would never have carried his arms
thither. Tamerlane, however, did honour to his memory;
for when he took the tow^n, and ordered it to be set on fire,
he commanded the house of Berkot to be spared, and ap-
pointed a guard to prevent its being hurt by the fire, so that
it subsists to this day.
The Christians are hated at Damascus. Every evening the
merchants are shut up in their houses by persons appointed
for this purpose, who, on the morrow, come to open their
gates when it may please them. I found there many Genoese,
Venetian, Calabrian, Florentine, and French merchants. The
last were come thither to purchase several articles, and par-
ticularly spiceries, with the intention of taking them to Ba-
ruth, and embarking them on board the galley expected from
Narbonne. Among them was Jacques Cceurf, who has since
acted a great part in France, and was master of the wardrobe
to the king. He told us the galley was then at Alexandria,
and that probably Sir Andrew and his three companions would
embark on board at Baruth.
I was shown the place, without the walls of Damascus,
where St. Paul had a vision, was struck blind, and thrown
from his horse. He caused himself to be conducted to Da-
mascus, where he was baptized ; but the place of his baptism
is now a mosque. I saw also the stone from which St. George
mounted his horse when he went to combat the dragon. It
is two feet square ; and they say, that when formerly the Sa-
* De la Brocquiere doubtless means the Euphrates.
+ Jacques Cceur was an extraordinary character, and a striking instance
of the ingratitude of monarchs. Although of low origin, he raised himself
by his abilities to high honours, and acquired by his activity immense riches.
He was one of the most celebrated merchants that ever existed ; and had it
not been for his superior management of the finances, the generals, able as
they were, of Charles VII. would never have expelled the English from
•France.
^96 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432.
Tacens attempted to carry it away, in spite of all the strength
they employed they could not succeed.
Having seen Damascus, Sir Sanson and myself returned
to Baruth, where w^e found Sir Andrew, Pierre de Yaudrei,
Geoffroi de Toisi, and Jean de la Roe, who had come thither,
as Jacques Coeur had told us. The galley arrived from Alex-
andria two or three days afterward; and, during this short
interval, we witnessed a feast celebrated by the Moors in their
ancient manner. It began in the evening at sunset. Numer-
ous companies, scattered here and there, were singing and
uttering loud cries. While this was passing, the cannons of
the castle were fired, and the people of the town launched
into the air, very high and to a great distance, a kind of hre,
larger than the greatest lantern that I ever saw lighted.
They told me they sometimes made use of such at sea, to set
fire to the sails of an enemy's vessel. It seems to me, that
as it is a thing easy to be made, and of little expense, it may
be equally well employed to burn a camp or a thatched village,
or in an engagement with cavalry to frighten the horses.
Curious to know its composition, I sent the servant of my
host to the person who made this fire, and requested him to
teach me the method. He returned for answer that he dared
not, for that he should run great danger were it known ; but
as there is nothing a Moor will not do for money, I offered
him a ducat, which quieted his fears, and he taught me all
he knew, and even gave me the moulds in wood, with the
other ingredients, which I have brought to France.
The evening before the embarkation, I took Sir Andrew de
Toulongeon aside, and, having made him promise that he
would not make any opposition to what I was about to reveal
to him, I informed him of my design to return home over-
land. In consequence of his promise, he did not attempt to
hinder me, but represented all the dangers I should have to
encounter, and the risk I should run of being forced to deny
my faith to Jesus Christ. I must own that his representa-
tions were w^ell founded ; and of all the perils he had menaced
me w^ith, there was not one I did not experience, except de-
nying my religion. He engaged his companions to talk with
me also on this subject; but what they urged was vain: I
suffered them to set sail, and remained at Baruth.
On their departure, I visited a mosque that had originally
been a handsome church, built, as it is said, by St. Barbara.
A.D. 1432.] BEIKOUT. 297
It is added that, when the Saracens had gained possession,
and their criers had, as usual, ascended the tower to announce
the time of prayer, they were so beaten that from that day
no one has ventured to return thither. There is also another
miraculous building that has been changed into a church,
which formerly was a house belonging to the Jews. One day
these people finding an image of our Lord began to stone it,
as their fathers had in times past stoned the Original ; but
the image having shed blood, they w^ere so frightened with
the miracle, that they fled and accused themselves to the
bishop, and gave up even their house in reparation for their
crime. It was made into a church, which at present is served
by the Cordeliers.
I was lodged at the house of a Venetian merchant, named
Paul Barberico ; and as I had not entirely renounced my
two pilgrimages to Nazareth and Mount Tabor, in spite of
the obstacles which it had been said I should meet with, I
consulted him on this double journey. He procured for me
a moucre, who undertook to conduct me, and bound himself
before him to carry me safe and sound as far as Damascus,
and to bring him back from thence a certificate of having
performed his engagement, signed by me. This man made
me dress myself like a Saracen. The Franks, for their se-
curity in travelling, have obtained permission from the sultan
to wear this dress when on a journey.
I departed with my moucre from Baruth on the morrow
after the galley had sailed, and we followed the road to Seyde
that lies between the sea and the mountains. These frequently
run so far into the sea that travellers are forced to go on the
sands, and at other times they are three-quarters of a league
distant. After an hour's ride, I came to a small wood of
lofty pines, which the people of the country preserve with
care. It is even forbidden to cut down any of them ; but I
am ignorant of the reason for such a regulation. Further on
was a tolerably deep river, which my moucre said came from
the valley of Noah, but the water was not good to drink. It
had a stone bridge over it, and hard by w^as a khan, where we
passed the night. On the morrow we arrived at Seyde, a
town situated near the sea, and inclosed on the land side by
ditches, which are not deep. Sur, called by the Moors Sour,
has a similar situation. It is supplied with excellent water
from a spring a quarter of a league to the southward of the
^98 BERTEANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432.
town, conducted to it by an aqueduct. I only passed through;
and it seemed to be handsome, though not strong, any more
than Seyde, both having been formerly destroyed, as appears
from their walls, which are not to be compared to those of our
towns. The mountain near Sur forms a crescent, the two
horns advancing as far as the sea : the void between them is
not filled with villages, though there are many on the sides of
the mountain. A league farther we came to a pass which
forced us to travel over a bank, on the summit of which is a
tower. Travellers going to Acre have no other road than
this, and the tower has been erected for their security. From
this defile to Acre the mountains are low, and many habita-
tions are visible, inhabited, for the greater part, by Arabs.
Near the town I met a great lord of the country, called Fan-
cardin : he was encamped on the open plain, carrying his
tents with him.
Acre, though in a plain of about four leagues in extent, is
surrounded on three sides by mountains, and on the fourth
by the sea. I made acquaintance there with a Venetian mer-
chant, called Aubert Franc, who received me well, and pro-
cured me much useful information respecting my two pilgrim-
ages, by which I profited. With the aid of his advice, I
took the road to Nazareth, and, having crossed an extensive
plain, came to the fountain, the water of which our Lord
changed into wine at the marriage of Archetriclin -- : it is
near a village w^iere St. Peter is said to have been born.
Nazareth is another large village, built between two moun-
tains; but the place where the angel Gabriel came to an-
nounce to the Virgin Mary that she would be a mother is in
a pitiful state. The church which had been built there is en-
tirely destroyed ; and of the house wherein our lady was when
the angel appeared to her, not the smallest remnant exists.
From Nazareth I went to Mount Tabor, the place where
the transfiguration of our Lord, and many other miracles,
took place. These pasturages attract the Arabs, who come
thither with their beasts; and I was forced to engage four
additional men as an escort, two of whom were Arabs. The
ascent of the mountain is rugged, because there is no road :
I performed it on the back of a mule, but it took me two
hours. The summit is terminated by an almost circular
* See before, p. 47,
,A.D. 1432.] THE TIBEKIADE. 299
plain of about two bow-shots in length, and one in width.
It was formerly inclosed within walls, the ruins of which,
and the ditches, are still visible : within the wall, and around
it, were several churches, and one especially, where, although
in ruins, full pardon for vice and sin is gained.
To the east of Mount Tabor, and at the foot of it, we saw
the Tiberiade, beyond which the Jordan flows. To the west-
ward is an extensive plain, very agreeable from its gardens,
filled with date palm trees, and small tufts of trees planted
like vines, on which grows the cotton. At sun-rise these
last have a singular effect, and, seeing their green leaves
covered with cotton, the traveller would suppose it had snowed
on them -i^ I descended into this plain to dinner, for I had
brought with me chickens and wine. My guides conducted
me to the house of a man, who, when he saw my wine,
took me for a person of consequence, and received me well.
He brought me a porringer of milk, another of honey, and
a branch loaded with dates. They were the first I had ever
seen. I noticed also the manner of manufactuiing cotton, in
which men and women were employed. Here my guides
wanted to extort more money from me, and insisted on making
a fresh bargain to reconduct me to Nazareth. It was well I
had not my sword with me, for I confess I should have drawn
it ; and it would have been madness in me, and in all who
shall imitate me. The result of the quarrel was, that I was
obliged to give them twelve drachms of their money, equiva-
lent to half a ducat. The moment they had received them,
the whole four left me, so that I was obliged to return alone
with my moucre.
We had not proceeded far on our road when we saw" two
Arabs, armed in their manner, and mounted on beautiful
horses, coming towards us. The moucre was much frightened ;
but, fortunately, they passed us without saying a w^ord. He
owned that, had they suspected I was a Christian, they would
have killed us both without mercy, or, at the least, have strip-
ped us naked. Each of them bore a long and thin pole, shod
at the ends with iron ; one of which was pointed, the other
round, but having many sharp blades a span long. Their
* M. de la Brocquiere is here probably mistaken. The cotton tree re-
sembles in its leaves the vine : but the cotton is formed in capsules, and not
on the leaves. There are many trees whose leaves are covered externally
with a white down, but none that in this manner produce cotton.
300 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [A.D. 1432.
buckler was round, according to their custom, convex at the
centre, whence came a thick point of iron ; and from that
point to the bottom it was ornamented with a long silken
fringe. They were dressed in robes, the sleeves of which, a foot
and a half wide, hung down their arms ; and instead of a cap
they had a round hat, terminated in a point of rough crimson
wool, which, instead of having the linen cloth twisted about
it like other Moors, fell down on each side of it, the whole of
its breadth.
We went to lodge at Samaria, because I wished to see the
lake of Tiberias, where, it is said, St. Peter was accustomed
to fish ; and, by so doing, some pardons may be gained, for it
was the ember week of September. The moucre left me
to myself the whole day. Samaria is situated on the ex-
tremity of a mountain. We entered it at the close of the
day, and left it at midnight to visit the lake. The moucre
had proposed this hour to evade the tribute extracted from all
who go thither ; but the night hindered me from seeing the
surrounding country. I went first to Joseph's well, so called
from his being cast into it by his brethren. There is a hand-
some mosque near it, which I entered, with my moucre, pre-
tending to be a Saracen. Further on is a stone bridge over
the Jordan, called Jacob's Bridge, on account of a house hard
by, said to have been the residence of that patriarch. The
river Hows from a great lake situated at the foot of a mountain
to the north-west, on which Namcardin has a very handsome
castle.
From the lake I took the road to Damascus. The country
is tolerably pleasant ; and, although the road leads between
mountains, they are generally from one to two leagues asunder.
There is, however, one narrow place, where the road is only
wide enough for a horse to pass. The tract all around it, to
the right and left for the space of about a league in length
and breadth, is covered with immense flint stones, like pebbles
in a river, the greater part as big as a wine-tun. Beyond
this pass is a handsome khan, surrounded by fountains and
rivulets. Four or five miles from Damascus is another, the
most magnificent I ever saw, seated near a small river, formed
by a junction of springs rising on the spot. The nearer you
approach the town, the finer is the country.
I met, near Damascus, a very black Moor, who had ridden
a camel from Cairo in eight days, though it is usually sixteen
A.B. 1433.] THE CARAVAN FROM MECCA. 301
days' journey. His camel had run away from him ; but, with
the assistance of my moucre, we recovered it. These couriers
have a singular saddle, on which they sit cross-legged ; but
the rapidity of the camel is so great that, to prevent any bad
effects from the air, they have their heads and bodies tightly
bandaged. This courier was the bearer of an order from the
sultan. A galley and two galliots of the prince of Tarentum
had captured, before Tripoli in Syria, a vessel from the Moors ;
and the sultan, by way of reprisal, had sent to arrest all the
Catalonians and Genoese who might be found in Damascus
and throughout Syria. This news, which my moucre told me,
did not alarm me : I entered the town boldly with other
Saracens, because, dressed like them, I thought I had nothing
to fear. This expedition had taken up seven days.
On the morrow of my arrival I saw the caravan return
from Mecca. It was said to be composed of three thousand
camels ; and, in fact, it was two days and as many nights be-
fore they had all entered the town. This event was, accord-
ing to custom, a great festival. The governor of Damascus,
attended by the principal persons of the town, went to meet
the caravan out of respect to the Alcoran, which it bore. This
is the book of law which Mohammed left to his followers. It
was enveloped in a silken covering, painted over with Moorish
inscriptions ; and the camel that bore it was, in like manner,
decorated all over with silk. Four musicians, and a great
number of drums and trumpets, preceded the camel, and
made a loud noise. In front, and around, were about thirty
men — some bearing cross-bows, others drawn swords, others
small harquebuses, which they fired off every now and then *.
Behind this camel followed eight old men, mounted on the
swiftest camels, and near them were led their horses, magni-
ficently caparisoned and ornamented with rich saddles, accord-
ing to the custom of the country. After them came a Turkish
lady, a relation of the grand seignior, in a litter borne by two
camels with rich housings. There were many of these ani-
mals covered with cloth of gold. The caravan was composed
of Moors, Turks, Barbaresques, Tartars, Persians, and other
sectaries of the false prophet Mohammed. These people pre-
tend that, having once made a pilgrimage to Mecca, they can-
not be damned. Of this I was assured by a renegade slave,
* This is an early mention of portable fire-arms in the East : they were
at this time noyelties in Europe.
80^ BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [A.D, 1432.
a Bulgarian by birth, who belonged to the lady I have men-
tioned. He was called Hayauldoula, which signifies, in the
Turkish language, "servant of God," and pretended to have
been three times at Mecca. I formed an acquaintance with
him, because he spoke a little Italian, and often kept me
company in the night as well as in the day. In our conver-
sations I frequently questioned him about Mohammed, and
where his body was interred. He told me he was at Mecca ;
that the shrine containing the body was in a circular chapel,
open at the top, and that it was through this opening the
pilgrims saw the shrine ; that among them were some w^ho,
having seen it, had their eyes thrust out, because they said,
after what they had just seen, the world could no longer offer
them any thing worth looking at. There were, in fact, in this
caravan two persons, the one of sixteen and the other of
twenty-two or twenty-three years old, who had thus made
themselves blind. Hayauldoula told me also, that it was not
at Mecca where pardons for sin were granted, but at Medina,
where St. Abraham built a house that still remains ''^. The
building is in the form of a cloister, of which pilgrims make
the circuit.
With regard to the town, it is seated on the sea-shore.
Indians, the inhabitants of Prester John's country, bring
thither, in large ships, spices and other productions of their
country ; and thither the Mohammedans go to purchase them.
They load them on camels, and other beasts of burden, for
the m^arkets of Cairo, Damascus, and other places, as is well
known. The distance from Mecca to Damascus is forty
days' journey across the desert. The heat is excessive; and
many of the caravan were suffocated. According to the rene-
gade slave, the annual caravan to Medina should be composed
of seven hundred thousand persons ; and when this number
is incomplete, God sends his angels to make it up. At the
great day of judgment Mohammed will admit into Paradise as
many persons as he shall please, where they will enjoy honey,
milk, and women at pleasure. As I was incessantly hearing
Mohammed spoken of, I wished to know something about him ;
and, for this purpose, I addressed myself to a priest in Damas-
cus, attached to the Venetian consul, who often said mass in
* Our traveller is mistaken. The tomb of Mohammed is at Medina, and
not at Mecca : and the house of Abraham is at Mecca, and not Medina,
where pilgrims gain pardons, and where that great commerce is carried on.
A.D. 1432.] THE CARAVAN FROM MECCA. 303
his house, confessed the merchants of that nation, and, when
necessary, regulated their affairs. Having confessed myself
to him, and settled my worldly concerns, I asked him if he
were acquainted with the doctrines of Mohammed. He said he
was, and knew all the Alcoran. I then besought him, in the
best manner I could, that he would put down in writing all
he knew of him, that I might present it to my lord the duke
of Burgundy. He did so with pleasure ; and I have brought
with me his work.
My intention was to go to Bursa -5^; and, in consequence, I
was introduced to a Moor, who engaged to conduct me thither
in the track of the caravan on paying him thirty ducats and
his expenses ; but as I was advised to distrust the Moors, as
people of bad faith and accustomed to break their promises, I
did not conclude the bargain. I say this for the instruction
of those who may have any concerns with them ; for I believe
them to be such as they were described to me. Hayauldoula,
on his part, procured me the acquaintance of some Caramanian
merchants ; but I took another resolution.
In regard to the pilgrims that go to Mecca, the grand Turk
has a custom peculiar to himself — at least, I am ignorant if the
other Mohammedan powers do the same — ^which is, that when
the caravan leaves his states he chooses for it a chief, whom
they are bound to obey as implicitly as himself. The chief of
this caravan was called Hoyarbarach ; he was a native of Bursa,
and one of its principal inhabitants. I caused myself to be
presented to him, by mine host and another person, as a man
that wanted to go to that town to see a brother. They
entreated him to receive me in his company, and to afford
me his security. He asked if I understood Arabic, Turkish,
Hebrew, the vulgar tongue, or Greek ? When they replied
that I did not, he answered, "Well, what can he pretend to
do ? " However, representations were made to him that, on
account of the war, I dared not go thither by sea ; and that, if
he would condescend to admit me, I would do as well as I
could. He then consented ; and, having placed his two hands
on his head and touched his beard, he told me, in the Turkish
language, that I might join his slaves ; but he insisted that I
should be dressed just like them.
I went, immediately after this interview, with one of my
* Bnisa.
304 BERTRANDON DE LA BKOCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432.
friends, to the market, called the Bazaar, and bought two
long white robes that reached to my ancles, a complete
turban, a linen girdle, a fustian pair of drawers to tuck the
ends of my robe in ; tw^o small bags, the one for my own use,
the other to hang on my horse's head while feeding him with
barley and straw ; a leathern spoon and salt ; a carpet to sleep
on ; and, lastly, a paletot of a white skin, which I lined with
linen cloth, and which was of service to me in the nights. I
purchased also a white tarquais (a sort of quiver) complete, to
which hung a sword and knives ; but as to the tarquais and
sword, I could only buy them privately ; for if those who have
the administration of justice had known of it, the seller and
myself would have run great risks.
The Damascus blades are the handsomest and best of all
Syria ; and it is curious to observe their manner of burnishing
them. This operation is performed before tempering; and
they have, for this purpose, a small piece of wood, in which is
fixed an iron, which they rub up and down the blade, and
thus clear off all inequalities, as a plane does to wood. They
then temper and polish it. This polish is so highly finished,
that, when any one wants to arrange his turban, he uses his
sword for a looking-glass. As to its temper, it is perfect;
and I have nowhere seen swords that cut so excellently.
There are made at Damascus, and in the adjoining country,
mirrors of steel, that magnify objects like burning glasses. I
have seen some that, when exposed to the sun, have reflected
the heat so strongly as to set fire to a plank fifteen or sixteen
feet distant.
I bought a small horse that turned out very well. Before
my departure I had him shod at Damascus ; and thence, as
far as Bursa, which is near fifty days' journey, so well do they
shoe their horses that I had nothing to do with liis feet, except-
ing one of the fore ones, which was pricked by a nail, and made
him lame for three weeks. The shoes are light, thin, length-
ened towards the heel, and thinner there than at the toe.
They are not turned up, and have but four nail holes, two on
each side. The nails are square, with a thick and heavy head.
When a shoe is wanted, and it is necessary to work it to make
it fit the hoof, it is done cold, without ever putting it in the
fire, which can readily be done because it is so thin. To pare
the hoof they use a pruning knife, similar to what vine-
dressers trim their vines with, both on this as well as on the
A.D. 1432.] HOKSES IN THE EAST. .305
other side of the sea. The horses of this country only walk
and gallop : and, when purchased, those which have the best
walk are preferred, as, in Europe, those which trot the best.
They have wide nostrils, gallop well, and are excellent, costing
little on the road ; for they eat only at night, and then but a
small quantity of barley with chopped straw. They never
drink but in the afternoon ; and their bridles are always left
in their mouths, even when in the stable, like mules. When
there they have the two hinder legs tied ; and they are all
intermixed together, horses and mares. All are geldings, ex-
cepting a few kept for stallions. Should you have any busi-
ness with a rich man, and call on him, he will carry you, to
speak with you, to his stables, which are, consequently, kept
always very cool and very clean. We Europeans prefer a
stone-horse of a good breed; but the Moors esteem only
mares. In that country a great man is not ashamed to ride
a mare with its foal running after the dam. I have seen
some, exceedingly beautiful, sold as high as two or three
hundred ducats. They are accustomed to keep their horses
very low, and never to allow them to get fat. The men of
fortune carry with them, when they ride, a small drum, which
they use in battle, or in skirmishes, to rally their men. It is
fastened to the pommel of their saddles, and they beat on it
with a piece of flat leather. I also purchased one, with spurs,
and vermilion coloured boots, which came up to my knees,
according to the custom of the country.
As a mark of my gratitude to Hoyarbarach, I went to offer
him a pot of green ginger ; but he refused it, and it was by
dint of prayers and entreaties that I prevailed on him to
accept of it. I had no other pledge for my security than
what I have mentioned; but I found him full of frank-
ness and good will — more, perhaps, than I should have found-
in many Christians.
God, who had protected me in the accomplishment of this
journey, brought me acquainted with a Jew of Caiffa, who^
spoke the Tartar and Italian languages ; and I requested him
to assist me in putting down in writing the names of every
thing I might have occasion to want for myself and my horse
while on the road. On our arrival, the first day's journey, at
Bailee, I drew out my paper to know how to ask for barley
and chopped straw, which I wanted to give my horse. Ten
or twelve Turks near me, observing my action, burst into
X
306 BERTRANDOK DE LA BROCQUIERE. [A.D. 1432
laughter ; and, coming nearer to examine my paper, seemed
as much surprised at our writing as we are with theirs. They
took a liking to me, and made every effort to teach me to
speak Turkish. They were never weary of making me often
repeat the same thing, and pronounced it so many different
ways that I could not fail to retain it ; so, when we separated, I
knew how to call for every thing necessary for myself and horse.
During the stay of the caravan at Damascus, I made a pil-
grimage, about sixteen miles distant, to our Lady of Serdenay.
To arrive there we traversed a mountain a full quarter of a
mile in length, to which the gardens of Damascus extend.
We then descended into a delightful valley, full of vineyards
and gardens, with a handsome fountain of excellent water.
Here, on a rock, has been erected a small castle, with a
church of green monks, having a portrait of the Virgin
painted on wood, whose head has been carried thither mira-
culously, but in what manner I am ignorant. It is added
that it always sweats, and that this sweat is an oil*. All I
can say is, that when I went thither, I was shown, at the end
of the church, behind the great altar, a niche formed in the
wall, where I saw the image, which ivas a flat thing, and might
be about one foot and a half high by one foot wdde. I cannot
say whether it is of wood or stone, for it was entirely covered
with clothes. The front was closed with an iron trellis, and
underneath was the vase containing the oil. A woman ac-
costed me, and with a silver spoon moved aside the clothes,
and wanted to anoint me with the sign of the cross on the
forehead, the temples, and breast. I believe this was a mere
trick to get money ; nevertheless I do not mean to say that
our Ijady may not have more power than this image.
I returned to Damascus, and, on the evening of the de-
parture of the caravan, settled my affairs and my conscience
as if I had been at the point of death ; for suddenly I found
* Many authors of tlie thirteenth century mention this Virgin of Serdenay,
which was famous during the crusades ; and they speak of this oily sweat,
that had the reputation of performing miracles. (See before, p. 190.) These
fabulous accounts of miraculous sweatings were common in Asia. Among
others, that which exuded from the tomb of the bishop Nicholas, one of
those saints whose existence is more than doubtful, was much vaunted. This
pretended liquor of Nicholas was even an object of adoration ; and we read
that, in 1651, a clergyman at Paris, having received a phial of it, demanded
and obtained permission from the archbishop to expose it to the veneration
of the faithful.— Xe JScevf, " Hist, de Paris/' t. i. part 2, p. 557.
A.D. 1432.] BALBECK. 307
myself in great trouble. I have before mentioned tbe mes-
senger whom the sultan had sent with orders to arrest all
the Genoese and Catalonian merchants found within his do-
minions. By virtue of this order my host, who w^as a Genoese,
was arrested, his effects seized, and a Moor placed in his
house to take care of them. I endeavoured to save all I
could for him; and, that the Moor might not notice it, I
made him drunk. I was arrested in my turn, and carried
before one of their cadies, who are considered as somewhat
like our bishops, and have the office of administering justice.
This cadi turned me over to another cadi, who sent me to
prison with the merchants, although he knew I was not one ;
but this disagreeable affair had been brought on me by an
interpreter, who wanted to extort money from me, as he had
before attempted on my first journey hither. Had it not been
for Antoine Mourrouzin, the Venetian consul, I must have
paid a sum of money ; but I remained in prison ; and, in the
mean time, the caravan set off. The consul, to obtain my
liberty, was forced to make intercession, conjointly v/ith
others, to the governor of Damascus, alleging that I had
been arrested without cause, which the interpreter well knew.
The governor sent for a Genoese, named Gentil Imperial, a
merchant employed by the sultan to purchase slaves for him
at Caiffa. He asked me w^ho I was, and my business at
Damascus. On my replying that I was a Frenchman re-
turning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he said they had
done wrong to detain me, and that I might depart when I
pleased.
I set off on the morrow of the sixth of October, accom-
panied by a moucre, whom I had first charged to carry my
Turkish dress out of the town, because a Christian is not per-
mitted to wear a white turban there. At a short distance a
mountain rises, on which I was shown a house said to have
been that of Cain. During the first day w^e travelled over
mountains, but the road was good. On the second day we
entered a fine country, which continued cheerful until we
came to Balbeck. My moucre there quitted me, as I had
overtaken the caravan. It was encamped near a river, on
account of the great heat in these parts ; the nights are
nevertheless very cold, which will scarcely be believed, and
the dews exceedingly heavy. I waited on Hoyarbarach, who
confirmed the permission he had granted me to accompany
X 2
^08 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432,
liim, and recommended me not to quit tlie caravan. On
the morrow morning, at eleven o'clock, I gave my horse water,
with oats and straw, according to the custom of our countries.
This tin^xC the Turks said nothing to me; but at six o'clock in
the evening, when, having given him water, I was about
fastening the bag, that he might eat, they opposed it and took
off the bag ; for they never suffer their horses to eat but dur-
ing the night, and will not allow one to begin eating before
the rest, unless when they are at grass.
The captain of the caravan had with him a mameluke of
the sultan, who was a Circassian, and going to Caramania in
search of a brother. This man, seeing me alone and ignorant
of the language of the country, charitably wished to serve me
as a companion, and took me with him ; but, as he had no
tent, we were often obliged to pass the nights under trees in
gardens. It Vv'as then that I was obliged to learn to sleep on
the ground, to drink nothing but water, and to sit cross-legged.
This posture was at first painful, but it was still more so to
accustom myself to sit on my horse with such very short stir-
rups,— and I suffered so much that, when I had dismounted,
I could not remount without assistance, so sore were my
hams ; but after a little time this manner seemed even more
convenient than ours. That same evening I supped with the
mameluke ; but we had only bread, cheese, and milk. I had,
when eating, a table-cloth, like the rich men of the country.
These cloths are four feet in diameter, and round, having
strings attached to them, so that they may be drawn up like a
purse. When they are used they are spread out ; and, when
the meal is over, they are drawn up with all that remains
within them, without their losing a crumb of bread or a raisin.
But I observed that, whether their repast had been good or
bad, they never failed to return thanks aloud to God.
Balbeck is a good town, well inclosed with walls, and tole-
rably commercial. In the centre is a castle, built with very
large stones. At present it contains a mosque, in which, it
is said, there is a human skull, with eyes so enormous that a
man may pass his head through their openings. I cannot
affirm this for fact, as none but Saracens may enter the
mosque.
Prom Balbeck we went to Hamos*, and encamped on the
* Hoins. or Kems, the ancient Emessa.
A.D. 1432.] BALBECK. 309
banks of a river. It was there I observed their manner of
encamping and pitching their tents. The tents are neither
very high nor very large, so that one man can pitch them, and
six persons may with ease repose in them during the heat.
In the course of the day they lay open the lower parts, to give
passage to the air, and close them in the night time. One
camel can carry seven or eight with thin poles ; some of them
are very handsome. As my companion, the mameluke, and
myself, had no tent, we fixed our quarters in a garden. There
w^e w^ere joined by two Turcomans of Satalia, returning from
Mecca, who supped with us. These men, seeing me well
clothed and well mounted, having a handsome sword, and
well furnished tarquais, proposed to the mameluke, as he
afterwards owned when we separated, to make away with me,
considering that I was but a Christian, and unworthy of being
in their company. He answered that, since I had eaten
bread and salt with them, it would be a great crime ; that it was.
forbidden by their law ; and that, after all, God had created
the Christians as well as the Saracens. They, however, per-
sisted in their design ; and as I testified a desire of seeing
Aleppo, the most considerable town in Syria after Damascus,
they pressed me to join them. I was ignorant of their inten-
tion, and accepted their offer; but I am now convinced they
only wanted to cut my throat. The mameluke forbade them
to come any more near us, and by this means saved my life.
We set out from Balbeck two hours before day; and our
caravan consisted of from four to five hundred persons, with
six or seven hundred camels and mules ; for it had great
quantities of spicery. I will describe the order of its march.
The caravan has a very large drum; and the moment the
chief orders the departure, three loud strokes are beaten.
Every one then makes himself ready, and, when prepared,
joins the file without uttering a word. Ten of our people
would, in such cases, make more noise than a thousand of
theirs. Thus they march in silence, unless it be at night, or
that any one should sing a song celebrating the heroic deeds
of their ancestors. At the break of day, two or three placed
at a great distance from each other cry out, and answer one
another, as is done from the towers of the mosques at the
usual hours. In short, a little before and after sun-rise,
devout people make their customary prayers and oblations.
To perform these oblations, if they be near a rivulet they dis-
§10 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432,
mount, and, with feet naked, they wash their whole bodies.
Should there be no rivulet near, at the usual time for these
ceremonies they pass their hands over their bodies. The last
among them washes his mouth and the opposite part, and
then turns to the south, when all raise two fingers in the air,
prostrate themselves, and kiss the ground thrice ; they then
rise up and say their prayers. They have been ordered to
practise these ablutions instead of confessions. Persons of
rank, to avoid failing in their performance, always carry, when
they travel, leathern bottles full of water, which are sus-
pended under the bellies of camels or horses, and are gene-
rally very handsome.
Hamos (Hems) is a good town, well inclosed with walls and
ditches " en glacis," situated in a plain on the banks of a
small river. Here terminates one end of the plain of Noah^',
which is said to extend as far as Persia. Tamerlane made
his irruption through this plain when he took and destroyed
so many cities. At the extremity of the town is a handsome
castle, constructed on a height, with glaces as far as the
walls.
From Hems, w^e i7ent to Hamaf . The country is fine, but
I saw few inhabitants excepting Arabs, who were rebuilding
some of the ruined villages. In Hamal met with a merchant
from Venice, named Laurent Souranze. He received me
well, lodged me in his house, and showed me the town and
castle. It has good tow^ers, with strong and thick walls,
built, like the castle of Provins, on a rock, in which deep
ditches have been cut. At one end of the town is the castle,
strongly and well built on an elevation, which is fortified by
ditches, and surmounted by a citadel which commands the
whole ; and the sides are washed by a river, said to be one of
the four that flowed out of Paradise J. I know not if this be
the fact or not; all that I know is, that it runs east-south-east,
and loses itself near Antioch. Here is the greatest wheel §
I ever saw. It is put in motion by the river, and supplies
the inhabitants, although numerous, with the necessary quan-
tity of water. The water falls into a trough cut in the castle-
rock, and thence is conducted to the town, where it flows
■^ This plain is the ancient Coelo-Syria.
•}'- Hamath of Scripture^ the Epiphania of the Greeks.
J The El Asi, or Orontes.
§ These wheels are still common on the Orontes.
A.D> 1132.] WINE-DEINKING IN THE EAST. 311
through the streets in an aqueduct formed on great square
pillars twelve feet high and two wide. I was in want of
several things to be like my fellow-travellers, of which the
mameluke haviog informed me, my host Laurent carried me
himself to the bazaar to purchase. The things wanted were
small silken bonnets, in the fashion of the Turcomans, a cap
to wear under them, Turkish spoons, knives with their steel,
a comb and case, and a leathern cup, all of which are sus-
pended to the sword. I likewise bought some finger-stalls to
draw the bow, another complete tarquais, to save the one I
had, which was very handsome, and lastly, a capinat, which
is a robe of fine white felt, impenetrable to the rain.
On the road I made acquaintance with some of my fellow-
travellers, who, when they found out that I lodged with a
Frank, came to ask me to procure them some wine. This
liquor is forbidden them by their religion, and they dare not
drink it before their own countrymen ; but they hoped to do
it without risk at the house of a Frank, and yet they were
returning from Mecca ! I spoke of it to my host Laurent,
but he said he was afraid to comply, from the great dangers
he should run were it known. I went to carry them this
answer, but they had been more fortunate elsewhere, in pro-
curing some at the house of a Greek. They proposed that
I should accompany them to partake, either from pure
friendship, or to authorize them to drink wine in the presence
of the Greek. This man conducted us to a small gallery,
where w^e all six seated ourselves in a circle on the floor. He
first placed in the midst of us a large and handsome earthen
jug, that might contain four gallons at least ; he then brought
for each of us a pot full of wine, which he poured into the
jug, and placed beside it two earthen porringers to serve for
glasses. The first who began drank to his companion, ac-
cording to their custom ; this did the same to the next, and
so on the others. We drank in this manner for a long time
without eating ; at length, I perceived that I could no longer
continue it without suffering, and begged of them, with up-
lifted hands, to permit me to leave off; but they grew very
angry, and complained as if I had been resolved to interrupt
their pleasure and do them an injury. Fortunately there was
^ne among them more acquainted with me than the rest, and
who loved me so that he called me kardays, that is to say,
brother. He offered to take my place, and to drink for me
Sl^ BEETEANDON DE LA BEOCQUIEEE. [a.D. 1432.
when it should be my turn. This appeased them, and, having
accepted the offer, the party continued until evening, when it
was necessary for us to return to the khan.
The captain of the caravan was at the moment seated on
a bench of stone, and had before him a lighted torch. It was
not difficult for him to guess whence we came, and, conse-
quently, four of our companions slipped away, and one only
remained with me. I mention all this to forewarn any per-
sons that may travel through these countries to avoid drinking
with the natives, unless they shall wish to swallow so much
as will make them fall to the ground. The mameluke, who
was ignorant of my debauch, had, during that time, bought a
goose for us both. He had just boiled it, and for want of
verjuice, had dressed it with the green leaves of the leek; I
ate of it with him, and it lasted us for three days.
I should have liked to see Aleppo, but the caravan taking
the strait road to x\ntioch, I was forced to give up all thoughts
of it. As the caravan was not to set out for two days, the
mameluke proposed that we should ride forward, the more
easily to procure lodgings. Four Turkish merchants desired
to be of our party, and we six travelled together. Half a
league from Hama, we came to the river, and crossed it by a
bridge. It had overflowed, although there had not been any
rain. Here I wished to give my horse some water, but as the
bank was steep and the river deep, had not the mameluke
come to my aid I must inevitably have been drowned. On
the opposite side of the river is a long and vast plain, where
we met six or eight Turcomans, accompanied by a woman.
She wore a tarquais like them, and, on inquiring into this, I
was told that the women of this nation are brave, and in time
of war fight like men. It was added, and this seemed to me
very extraordinary, that there are about thirty thousand women
who thus bear the tarquais, and are under the dominion of a
lord, named Turcgadiroly*, who resides among the mountains
of Armenia, on the frontiers of Persia.
The second day's journey was through a mountainous coun-
try, tolerably fertile though ill watered, but we saw nothing
but ruined houses. As we travelled, my mameluke taught
me to shoot with the bow, and made me buy finger-stalls and
rings for this purpose. At length we arrived at a village that
* Tur-Kadir-Oglu.
A.D. 1432.] TURCOMANIA. 313
was rich in woods, vineyards, and corn-fields, but having no
other water than what was in cisterns. This district seemed
to have been formerly inhabited by Christians, and I own it
gave me great pleasure when I was told that it had all
belonged to Franks, and the ruins of churches were shown me
as a proof of it. We fixed our quarters in this village, and it
was then I first saw the habitations of the Turcomans, and
women of that nation with uncovered faces. They commonly
hide them under a piece of black tammy, to which those who
are wealthy attach pieces of money and precious stones. The
men are good archers. I saw several draw the bow, which
they do sitting, and at a short distance; and this gives to
their arrows great rapidity and strength.
On leaving Syria, we entered Turcomania, called by us
Armenia. The capital is a very considerable town, named
Antequaye (Antakiyah) by them, and by us Antioch. It was
very flourishing in former times, and has still handsome walls
in good repair, which inclose a large tract of ground, and even
some mountains ; but its houses are not more than three
hundred in number. It is bounded on the south by a
mountain, on the north by a great lake, beyond which is an
open and fine country. The river that comes from Hama
runs alongside the walls. Almost all the inhabitants are
Turcomans or Arabs, and their profession is breeding cattle,
such as camels, goats, cows, and sheep. The goats are, for
the most part, white, and the handsomest I have ever seen,
not having, like those of Syria, hanging ears ; and their hair
is soft, of some length, and curling. Their sheep have thick
and broad tails. They also feed wild asses, which they tame ;
these much resemble stags in their hair, ears, and head, and
have, like them, cloven feet. I know not if they have the
same cry, for I never heard them. They are large, hand-
some, and go with other beasts, but I have never seen them
mounted*. For the carriage of merchandise they use the
buffalo and ox, as we do the horse. They also use them to
ride on ; and I have seen large herds, some carrying goods,
and others men.
The lord of this country was Ramedan, a rich, powerful, and
brave prince. For some time he was so redoubtable that the
* It is not very easy to identify this animal by La Brocquiere's descrip-
tion ; if he had not described it as " large/' we might have supposed it to be
a gazelle.
314 BERTKANDON DE LA BKOCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432.
sultan was alarmed, and afraid to anger him ; but, wishing to
destroy him, he practised with the karman'-!', who could more
easily deceive Ramedan than any other, having given him
his sister in marriage. In consequence, one day, as they were
eating together, the karman arrested him and delivered him
to the sultan, who put him to death, and took possession of
Turcomania, giving, however, a portion of it to the karman.
On leaving Antioch, I continued my road with the mameluke,
and we first crossed a mountain called Negref, on which he
pointed out to me three or four handsome castles in ruins,
that had belonged to the Christians. The road is good, and
incessantly perfumed by the number of laurels with which the
country abounds ; but the descent is twice as rapid as the
ascent. It finishes at the gulf of Asacs:[, which we call
Layaste, because, in fact, it takes its name from the town of
Ayas. This gulf extends between two mountains inland for
upwards of fifteen miles; its breadth maybe about twelve, but
I refer for this to the sea charts.
At the foot of the mountain, near the road and close to the
sea-shore, are the ruins of a strong castle §, defended on the
land side by a marsh, so that it could only be approached by
sea, or by a narrow causeway across the marsh. It was in-
habited, but the Turcomans had posted themselves hard by.
They occupied one hundred and twenty tents, some of felt,
others of white and blue cotton, all very handsome, and
capable of containing, with ease, from fifteen to sixteen per-
sons. These are their houses, and, as we do in ours, they
perform in them all their household business, except making
fires. We halted among them ; they placed before us one of
the table-cloths before-mentioned, in which there remained
fragments of bread, cheese, and grapes. They then brought
us a dozen of thin cakes of bread, with a large jug of curdled
milk, called by them yogort||. The cakes are a foot broad,
round, and thinner than wafers ; they fold them up as grocers
do their papers for spices, and eat them filled with the
curdled milk. A league further is a caravansera, where we
lodged. These establishments consist of houses like the
khans of Syria.
* Karaman-oglu, tlie Seljukian prince of Karamania.
f Ananus, now the Giaour Tagh. J The Gulf of Ayas, the ancient Mgse,
§ Probably the one known as Godfrey do Bouillon's castle.
II Pronounced yuyurt.
A.D. 1432.] THE TUECOMANS. 315
In the course of this day's journey, I overtook on the road
an Armenian, who spoke a little Italian. Finding I was a
Christian, he entered into conversation with me, and told me
many things of the country, its inhabitants, and likewise of
the sultan, and Kamedan, lord of Turcomania, w^hom I have
already mentioned. He said that this last was of a large
size, very brave, and the most expert of all the Turks in
handling a battle-axe and sword. His mother was a Christian,
and had caused him to be baptized according to the Greek
ritual, to take from him the smell and odour of those who are
not baptized ^^. But he w^as neither a good Christian nor a
good Saracen; and w^hen they spoke to him of the two
prophets, Jesus and Mohammed, he said, "For my part, lam
for the living prophets ; they will be more useful to me than
dead ones." His territories on one side joined those of the
karman, whose sister he had married, and on the other
reached to Syria, which belonged to the sultan. Every time
the subjects of the latter passed through his country he ex-
acted tolls from them. But at length the sultan prevailed on
the karman, as I have said before, to betray his brother-in-
law to him ; and at this moment he possesses all Turcomania
as far as Tharsis, and even one day's journey further.
That day, accompanied by the Armenian, we once more
lodged with the Turcomans, who again served us with milk.
It was here I saw w^omen make those thin cakes I spoke of.
This is their manner of making them; they have a small
round table, very smooth, on which they throw some flour, and
mix it with water to a paste, softer than that for bread. This
paste they divide into round pieces, which they flatten as
much as possible, with a wooden roller of a smaller diameter
than an egg, until they make them as thin as I have men-
tioned. During this operation they have a convex plate of
iron placed on a tripod, and heated by a gentle fire under-
neath, on which they spread the cake and instantly turn it,
so that they make two of their cakes sooner than a waferman
can make one wafer.
I was two days traversing the country round the gulf. It
is handsome, and had formerly many castles belonging to
* The Christians of Asia believed implicitly that the infidels had a dis-
agreeable smell which was peculiar to them, and which baptism took away.
This superstition will be again noticed. The baptism was, according to the
Greek ritual, by immersion.
816 BERTKANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [A.D. 1432.
Christians, at present destroyed. Such was the one seen to
the eastward before we arrived at Ayas. The inhabitants are
Turcomans, who are a handsome race, excellent archers, and
living on little. Their dwellings are round, like pavilions,
covered with felt. They live in the open plain, and have a
chief whom they obey ; but they frequently change their situ-
tion, when they carry their houses with them. In this case,
they are accustomed to submit themselves to the lord on whose
lands they fix, and even to assist him with their arms, should
he be at war. But should they quit his domains, and pass
over to those of his enemy, they serve him in his turn against
the other; and they are not thought the worse of for this, as
it is their custom, and they are wanderers. On my road, I
met one of their chiefs hawking with falcons, with which he
took tame geese. I was told that he might have under his
command ten thousand Turcomans. The country is favour-
able to the chase, but intersected by many small rivers that
fall into the gulf. Wild boars are here abundant.
About the centre of the gulf is a defile formed by a rock-:',
under which the road passes ; it is not two bow-shots from the
sea; and this passage was formerly defended by a castle,
which made it very strong, but it is now in ruins.
On leaving this strait, we entered a fine extensive plain f,
inhabited by Turcomans ; my companion, the Armenian,
pointed out to me a castle on a mountain J: where were only-
people of his nation, and the walls of which were washed by
a river called Jehon§. We travelled along the banks of this
river to a town called Misse on the Jehon||, because it runs
through it.
Misse, situated four days' journey from Antioch, belonged
to the Christians, and was a considerable city. Many churches,
half destroyed, still remain H; the choir of the great church
is yet entire, but converted into a mosque. The bridge is of
wood, the former stone one having been carried away by the
floods -I'^i'. One half of the town is completely in ruins; the
* Kara-Kapu^ or Temir-Kapu, '^ the Iron Gates/' the ancient Pylse Ama-
meae.
+ The Campus Aleius of the ancients, now Tchukur Ovah.
% Sis, or perhaps Anazarbe. § Now called Jeihun.
II Missisah, on the Jeihun.
"U The churches have now entirely disappeared.
** This bridge is at present constructed of stone.
A.D. 1432.] EASTERN BATHS. 317
Other half has preserved its walls, and about three hundred
houses, filled with Turcomans.
From Misse to Adena"^' the country continues level and
good, inhabited by Turcomans. Adena is two days' journey
from Misse, and I there proposed to wait for the caravan. It
arrived; I went with the mameluke, together with some
others, many of whom were great merchants, to lodge near
the bridge, between the river and the walls of the town ; and
it was there I observed the manner of the Turks saying their
prayers and offering sacrifice. They no way hid themselves
from my notice, but on the contrary seemed well pleased when
I said my paternoster, which seemed to them wonderful. I
sometimes heard them chaunt their prayers at the beginning
of the night, when they seat themselves in a circle, and shake
their bodies and heads while they sing in a very uncouth
manner. One day they carried me with them to the stoves and
baths of the town; and as I refused to bathe, for I must have
undressed myself, and was afraid of showing my money, they
gave me their clothes to keep. From this moment we were
much connected. The bath-house is very high, and termi-
nated by a dome, in which a circular opening is contrived to
light the whole interior. The stoves and baths are hand-
some, and very clean. When the bathers come out of the
water, they seat themselves on small hurdles of thin osiers,
dry themselves, and comb their beards. It was at Adena I
first saw the two young men who had got their eyes thrust
out at Mecca, after having seen the tomb of Mohammed.
The Turks bear well fatigue and a hard life ; they are not
incommoded, as I have witnessed, during the whole journey,
by sleeping on the ground like animals. They are of a gay,
cheerful humour, and willingly sing songs of the heroic deeds
of their ancestors. Any one, therefore, who wishes to live
with them must not be grave or melancholy, but always have
a smiling countenance. They are also men of probity, and
charitable toward each other. I have often observed, that
should a poor person pass by when they are eating, they
would invite him to partake of their meal, which is a thing
\ye never do.
In many places I found they did not bake their bread half
as much as ours. It is soft, and, unless a person be accus-
* Adanah.
318 BERTRxiNDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432
tomed to it, is difficult to be chewed. In regard to meat,
they eat it raw, dried in the sun. When any of their beasts,
horse or camel, is so dangerously ill that no hopes remain of
saving its life, they cut its throat, and eat it, not raw, but a
little dressed. They are very clean in dressing their meat,
but eat it dirtily. They in like manner keep their beards
very neat and clean, but never w^ash their hands but when
they bathe, when they are about to say their prayers, or when
they wash their beards and hinder parts.
Adena is a tolerably good commercial town, well inclosed
with walls, situated in a fine country, and sufficiently near the
sea. The river of Adena ^', which is wide, and rises among
the high mountains of Armenia, flows beneath its walls. It
has over it a long bridge, and the broadest I ever saw. Its
inhabitants and prince are Turcomans; the prince is brother
to the brave Ramedan, whom the sultan had murdered. I
was told the sultan had his son in his power, but dared not
suffer him to return into Turcomania.
From Adena I went to Thurof, which we call Tharsis.
The country continues good, though near the mountains, and
is inhabited by Turcomans, who live in villages or in tents.
The district around Tharsis abounds in corn, wine, wood, and
w^ater. It was a famous town, and very ancient buildings are
still seen in it. I believe this was the town J besieged by
Baldwin, brother to Godfrey of Bouillon. At present it has
a governor appointed by the sultan, and many Moors live
within it. It is defended by a castle with ditches a glacis,
and by a double wall, which in some parts is triple. A small
river § runs through it, and there is another at a short dis
tance. I found there a Cypriot merchant, named Antony,
who had resided in this country a longtime, and knew the lan-
guage well. He talked to me very pertinently about it ; but he
did me another favour, that of giving me some good wine, for
I had not tasted any for several days. Tharsis is but sixty
miles from Curco||, a castle built on the sea-shore, belonging
to the king of Cyprus. In this whole country they speak the
Turkish tongue, which begins even to be spoken at Antioch,
the capital, as I have before said, of Turcomania. It is a very
fine language, laconic, and easily learned.
* The Seihun, the ancient Surus. f Tarsus.
Z La Brocquiere is right in his conjecture. § The ancient Cydnus*
11 Kurkuss, the ancient Corycvts.
A.B. 1432.] THE MOUNTAINS OF AEMENIA. 319
As we had to cross the high mountains of Armenia, Hoyar-
barach, the chief of our caravan, would have it all assembled;
and for this purpose he waited some days, for those in the
rear to come up. At last we departed, on the eve of All-
Souls '-Day. The mameluke advised me to lay in provision
for four days. I consequently purchased a sufficiency of bread
and cheese for myself, and of oats and barley for my horse.
On quitting Tharsis, we travelled three French leagues over
a fine champaign country, peopled with Turcomans ; and then
we entered on the mountains, which are the highest I have
ever seen. They skirt on three sides the country I had tra-
velled over from Antioch ; the sea bounds the other on the
south. We first passed through woods during a whole day,
but the road is not bad. We lodged in the evening at a nar-
row pass, where there seemed to have been formerly a castle.
The second day's journey was not at all disagreeable, and we
passed the night at a caravansera. The third, we followed
the banks of a small river, and saw on the mountains an in-
numerable quantity of speckled partridges. In the evening,
we halted on a plain, about a league in length and a quarter
wide, where four great valleys meet : the one by which we
had come ; another that runs northward, towards the country
of the lord called Turcgadirony, and towards Persia; the
third runs eastw^ard, and I know not whether this also does
not lead to Persia; the last extends to the westward, and it is
that which I followed, and which conducted me to the country
of the karman Each of these four has a river, and the four
rivers run to this last country.
It snowed much during the night. To save my horse from
the weather, I covered him with my capinat, the felt robe
which I used for a cloak; but I myself caught cold, and got
that disagreeable disorder a dysentery. Had it not been for
my mameluke, I should have been in great danger ; but he
assisted me, and made me instantly quit the place in which I
was. We both, therefore, set off very early, and ascended the
high mountains where the castle of Cublech - is situated, and is
the highest I am acquainted with. It is seen two days' journey
off ; but sometimes we turned our backs to it, by reason of the
windings of the mountains, sometimes also we lost sight of
it, as it was hidden by their height. No one can penetrate
into the country of the karman but on foot over the moun-
* Kiilek Boghaz.
320 BEKTEANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432.
tain on which this castle is built. The pass is narrow, and
in some places has been perforated by the chisel, but it is
every where commanded by Cublech. This castle, the last
which the Armenians lost, belongs at this day to the karman,
•who had it in his division after the death of Ramedan. These
mountains are covered with perpetual snow, having only a
road for horses, although there are some plains scattered
among them. They are dangerous on account of the Turco-
mans who inhabit them ; but during the four days I was tra-
velling among them I never perceived a single dwelling.
On leaving the mountains of Armenia, to enter the country
of the karman, there are still others to be crossed. On one
of them is a pass, having a castle called Leve, where a toll is
paid to the karman. This toll was farmed to a Greek, who,
on seeing me, judged from my features that I was a Christian,
and stopped me. If I had been forced to return I should
have been a dead man, for I w^as afterwards assured, that be-
fore I had gone half a league my throat would have been cut,
for the caravan was at a great distance. Fortunately my
mameluke bribed the Greek, and, in consideration of two
ducats that I gave him, he opened the passage. Further on
is the castle of Asers, and beyond that the castle of a tow^n
called Araclie (Eregli).
On descending the mountain, we entered a plain as level
as the sea; then are seen some heights towards the north,
which, scattered here and there, appear like so many islands
in the midst of the waves. It is on this plain that Eregli is
situated, a town formerly inclosed, but now^ in the greatest
state of ruin. I found there, however, some provision; for
my last four days' journey from Tharsis had afforded me no-
thing but water. The environs of the town are covered with
villages, inhabited chiefly by Turcomans.
On quitting Eregli, we met two gentlemen of the country,
who appeared to be men of distinction; they showed great
friendship to the mameluke, and carried him to regale at an
adjoining village, the dwellings of w^hich are cut out of the
rock. We passed the night there, but I was forced to stay
the remainder of the time in a cavern, to take care of our
horses. "When the mameluke returned, he told me that these
two men had asked who I was, and that in his answer he had
misled them, by saying I was a Circassian, who could not
speak Arabic.
A.D. 1432.] LARANDE. 821
From Eregli to Larande-i^, whither our route lay, is two
days' journey. This town, though not inclosed, is large, com-
mercial, and well situated. There was, in ancient times, a
great and strong castle in the centre of the town, the gates
of which are now visible ; they are of iron, and very hand-
some, but the walls are destroyed. There is a fine plain be-
tween these two towns ; and after I left Leve I did not notice
a single tree in the open country. There were in Larande
two Cypriot gentlemen, the one named Lyachin Castrico, the
other Leon Maschero, who both spoke very tolerable French f.
They inquired of me my country, and what had brought me
thither : I replied that I was a servant of my lord of Bur-
gundy, that I came from Jerusalem to Damascus, and was fol-
lowing the caravan. They appeared astonished that I had
been suffered to pass ; but when they had asked wiiither I was
going, and I had answered that I was on my return overland
through France to my aforesaid lord, they told me it was
impossible to be done, and that if I had a thousand lives I
should lose them all ; they therefore proposed that I should
return to Cyprus with them ; for there were at that island two
galleys that had come thither to convey back the daughter of
the king, who had been betrothed in marriage to the son of
my lord of Savoy t ; and they doubted not but the king, from
the love and respect he bore to the duke of Burgundy, would
grant me a passage on board one of them. I replied, that,
since God had graciously permitted that I should arrive at
Larande, he w^ould probably allow me to go further ; but that,
at all events, I was determined to finish my journey as I had
begun it, or die in the attempt. I asked them, in my turn,
whither they were going. They said their king was just dead;
that during his life there had always been a truce with the
grand karman, and that the young king and his council had
sent them to renew this alliance. Being curious to make
* Karaman.
+ The Lusignans, when kings of Cyprus, towards the end of the twelfth
century, had introduced the French language into that island. It was at
Cyprus, when St. Louis put in there on his crusade to Egypt, that the code
called "the Assizes of Jerusalem" was drawn up and published, and which
became the code of laws for the Cypriots. The French language continued
long to be that of the court and of well educated persons.
J Louis, son to Amadous VIII., duke of Savoy. He married, in 1432,
Anne de Lusignan, daughter to John II., king of Cyprus, deceased in the
month of June, and sister to John III., then on the throne.
T
322 BEETRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432.
acquaintance with this great prince, whom his nation reve-
rences as we do our king, I entreated permission to accom-
pany them, to which they consented. I met hkewise with
another Cypriot at Larande, called Perrin Passerot, a mer-
chant, who had resided some time in the country. He was
from Famagusta, and had been banished from that town, be-
cause he and one of his brothers had attempted to deliver it
■up to the king, as it was then in the hands of the Genoese.
My mameluke also met with five or six of his countrymen,
young Circassian slaves, who were on their way to the resi-
dence of the sultan. He w^as desirous to regale them on
their meeting ; and, as he had heard there were Christians at
Larande, he guessed they would not be without wine, and
begged of me to procure him some. By dint of inquiry, and
for half a ducat, I was enabled to purchase the half of a
goatskin full, of which I made him a present. He showed
great joy on receiving it, and instantly went to his com-
panions, with whom he passed the whole night drinking. He
himself swallowed so much, that on the morrow he was near
dying on the road, but he cured himself by a method which is
peculiar to them. In such cases, they have a very large bottle
full of water, and as their stomach becomes empty, they drink
water as long as they are able, as if they would rinse a bottle,
which they throw up, and then drink of it again. He was
thus employed on the road until mid-day, when he was perfectly
recovered.
From Larande we went to Qulongue, called by the Greeks
Quhonguopoly^. These places are two days' journey distant
from each other. The country is fine, and well furnished
with villages, but wants water, and has no trees but such as
have been planted near houses for their fruit, nor any other
river but that which runs near the town. This town is con-
siderable and commercial, defended by ditches en glacis, and
good walls strengthened with towers, and is the best the kar-
man possesses. There remains a small castle : formerly there
was a very strong one in the centre of the town, but it has
been pulled down to furnish materials to build the prince's
palace.
I staid there four days, that the am.bassador from Cyprus
* *' The copyist has written it further on Quohongiie and Quhongue. I
shall write it henceforward Couhongue''' (The translator.) It is Koniyeh,
the low Greek Koniopolis, the ancient Iconium,
A.D. 1432.] THE KARMAN. 323
and the caravan might have time to arrive. When the am
bassador came, I asked him when he intended to wait on the
karman, and repeated my request to be present, which he pro-
mised to grant. There were, however, among his slaves four
Greek renegadoes, one of whom was his usher-at-arms, who
united in their efforts to dissuade him from it ; but he replied
that he saw no inconvenience, and besides, that I had shown
such eagerness to witness the ceremony, that he should take
pleasure in obliging me. He was apprized of the hour when
he might make his obeisance to the prince, inform him of the
object of his mission, and offer his presents ; for it is an
established custom in the east never to appear before a supe-
rior without bringing presents. His were six pieces of camlet
of Cyprus, I know not how many ells of scarlet, forty sugar
loaves, a peregrine falcon, two cross-bows, and a dozen of
bolts. Some genets were sent him to carry the presents ;
and he and his attendants were mounted on horses, which
the great lords, who had come to the palace to attend the
prince during this ceremony, had left at the gate. The am-
bassador made use of one of them, but dismounted at the
entrance of the palace, when we were ushered into a large
hall where there might be about three hundred persons. The
prince occupied the adjoining apartment, around which were
arranged thirty slaves, standing ; he was himself in a corner,
seated on a carpet on the ground, according to the custom of
the country, clad in a crimson and gold cloth, with his elbow
leaning on a cushion of another sort of cloth of gold. Near
him was his sword, his chancellor standing in front, and, at a
little distance, three men seated.
The presents were first laid before him, which he scarcely
deigned to look at ; then the ambassador entered, attended
by an interpreter, because he did not understand the Turkish
language. After the usual reverences, the chancellor de-
manded his credential letters, which he read aloud. The
ambassador then addressed the king by means of his inter-
preter, and said that the king of Cyprus had sent him to
salute him, and to request that he would accept the presents
now before him, as a mark of his friendship. The prince
made no answer, but caused him to be seated on the ground
after their manner, below the three persons before mentioned,
and at some distance from the prince. He now inquired
after the health of his brother the king of Cyprus, and was
Y 2
324 BERTEANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [A.D. 1432.
told that he had lost his father, and had commissioned him
to renew the alliance that had subsisted between the two
countries during the lifetime of the deceased, for which he
was very anxious. The prince answered that he desired it
as earnestly. He then questioned the ambassador when the
late king died, the age of his successor, if he were prudent,
if his country was obedient ; and, as the answer to these last
questions was ' Yes,' he seemed well pleased.
After these words, the ambassador was told to rise, which
he did, and took leave of the prince, who did not move more
at his departure than at his entrance. On leaving the palace,
he found the same horses which had carried him thither;
and, having mounted one of them, he was reconducted to his
lodgings : but he was scarcely entered, when the ushers of
arms presented themselves, for in these ceremonies it is
customary to give them money, and the ambassador did not
neglect it. He next went to pay his compliments to the son
of the prince, to offer him presents and deliver his letters.
He was seated like his father, with three persons near him ;
but when the ambassador made his reverence, he rose up,
then reseated himself, and placed the ambassador above these
three personages. As for us, who accompanied him, they
placed us far behind. Having, noticed a bench, I was about
to seat myself on it without any ceremony ; but I was pulled
off, and made to bend my knees and crouch on the ground
like the rest. On our return home, an usher of arms to the
son visited us, as those of the father had done, who also
received some money. These people, however, are satisfied
with a little. The prince and his son, in their turn, sent the
ambassador a present for his expenses, which is likewise one
of their customs. The first sent fifty aspres, the second
thirty. An aspre is the money of the country, and fifty are
equal in value to a Venetian ducat.
T saw the prince go through the town in procession on a
Friday, which is a holiday with them, when he was going to
say his prayers. His guards were about fifty horsemen, the
greater part his slaves, and about thirty infantry, who sur-
rounded him. He bore a sword in his belt, and had a tabol-
can at the pommel of his saddle, according to the custom of
the country. He and his son have been baptized in the
Greek manner, to take off the had smell ; and I was told that
the son's mother was a Christian. It is thus all the grandees
A.D. 1432.] THE KAEMAN. 325
get themselves baptized, that they may not stink. His terri-
tories are considerable : they begin one day's journey on this
side Tharsis, and extend to the country of ximurath Bey ^^^
the other karman I spoke of, and whom we call the Grand
Turk. In this line they are, as it is said, twenty leagues in
breadth ; but they are sixteen days' journey in length, as I
know well from having travelled them. They extend, as
they assured me, on the north-east, as far as the frontiers of
Persia. The karman possesses also a maritime coast, called
the Farsats. It extends from Tharsis to Courco, which
belongs to the king of Cyprus, and to a port called Zabari.
This district produces the most expert sailors known, but
they have revolted against him.
The karman is a handsome prince, about thirty-two years
old, and married to a sister of Amurath Bey. He is well
obeyed by his subjects, although I have heard people say he
was very cruel, and that few* days passed without some noses,
feet, or hands being cut off, or some one put to death.
Should any man be rich, he condemns him to die, that he
may seize his fortune ; and it is said that the greater part of
his nobles have thus perished. Eight days before my arrival
he had caused one to be torn to pieces by dogs. Two days
after this execution he had caused one of his wives to be put
to death, even the mother of his eldest son, who, when I saw
him, knew nothing of this murder. The inhabitants of the
country are a bad race — thieves, cheats, and great assassins ;
they kill each other, and justice is so relaxed that they are
never arrested for it.
I found at Couhongue Antoine Passerot, brother to Perrin
Passerot, whom I had seen at Larande. They had both been
accused of attempting to deliver Famagusta to the king of
Cyprus, and had been banished. They had retired to the
states of the karman ; the one to Larande, the other to Cou-
hongue. Antony had been unfortunate. Vice sometimes
blinds people ; and he had been caught with a Mohammedan
woman, and the king had forced him to deny his religion to
escape death ; but he appeared to be still a stanch Catholic.
In our conversations, he told me many particulars of the
country, of the character and government of the prince, and
especially as to the manner in which he had taken and de-
livered up Eamedan. The karman, he said, had a brother
* Amurath, or Mured, II.
326 BERTHANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432.
whom lie banished from the country, and who took refuge at
the court of the sultan, where he found an asylum. The
sultan did not dare to declare war against him, but gave him
to understand, that, unless he delivered Ramedan into his
hands, he would send his brother with troops so to do. The
karman made no hesitation, and rather than fight with him
committed an infamous treason in regard to his brother-in-
law. Antony added, that he was weak and cowardly, although
his people are the bravest in all Turkey. His real name is
Imbreymbas ; but he is called karman, from his being the
lord of the country. Although he is allied to the Grand Turk,
having married his sister, he detests him for having taken
from him a portion of the karman. He is, however, afraid
to make war on him, as he is the stronger ; but I am per-
suaded that if he saw him successfully attacked by the Euro-
peans he would not leave him in peace.
In traversing his country, I passed near the frontiers of
another, called Gasserie *, which is bounded on one side by
the karman, and on the other by the high mountains of Tur-
comania that extend towards Tharsis and Persia. Its lord is
a valiant warrior, called Gadirolyf, who has under his com-
mand thirty thousand Turcoman men-at-arms, and about one
hundred thousand women, as brave and as fit for combat as
men|. There are four lords continually at war with each
other — Gadiroly, Quharaynich, Quarachust, and the son of
Tamerlane, who is said to govern Persia.
Antony told me, that when I quitted the mountains on the
other side of Eregli, I had passed within half a day's journey
of a celebrated town § where the body of St. Basil is interred,
and spoke of it in such a manner that I had a wish to see it;
but he so strongly represented that I should lose more by
separating myself from the caravan, and expose myself to
great risks when travelling alone, that I renounced all
thoughts of it. He owned to me that his intentions were to
accompany me to my lord the duke; for that he had no desire
to become a Saracen, and that if he had entered into any
engagements on this head it was solely to escape death. It
had been ordered that he should be circumcised, and he was
* Kaisariyeh, or Csesarea in Cappadocia. f Kadir-Oglu]
Z These warlike women probably gave rise to the story of the Amazons.
See Sir John Maundeville, p. 206.
§ Tyana^
A.D. 1432.] CHARACTER OF THE SARACENS. 327
expecting tlie execution of it daily, wliicli gave him many
fears. He was a very handsome man, about thirty-six years
old. He told me also that the natives offer up public prayers
in their mosques, like as we do in our churches on Sundays,
in behalf of Christian princes, aud for other objects which we
ask from God. Now one of the things they pray to God for
is, to deliver them from the coming of such a man as Godfrey
de Bouillon.
The chief of the caravan making preparations to depart, I
went to take leave of the Cypriot ambassadors. They had
flattered themselves that I v/ould return with them, and re-
newed their entreaties, assuring me that I should never com-
plete my journey; but I persisted. It was at Couhongue that
the caravan broke up. Hoyarbarach took with him only his
own people, his wife, two of his children, whom he had car-
ried with him to Mecca, one or two foreign w^omen, and my-
self. I bade adieu to my mameluke. This good man, whose
name was Mohammed, had done me innumerable services.
He was very charitable, and never refused alms when asked
in the name of God. Tt was through charity he had been so
kind to me, and I must confess that without his assistance I
could not have performed my journey without incurring the
greatest danger ; and that, had it not been for his kindness,
I should often have been exposed to cold and hunger, and
much embarrassed with my horse. On taking leave of him,
I was desirous of showing my gratitude ; but he would never
accept of any thing except a piece of our fine European cloth
to cover his head, which seemed to please him much. He
told me all the occasions that had come to his knowledge, on
which, if it had not been for him, I should have run risks of
being assassinated, and warned me to be very circumspect in
my connections with the Saracens, for that there were among
them some as wicked as the Franks. I write this to recall to
my reader's memory that the person who, from his love to
God, did me so many and essential kindnesses, was a man
not of our faith.
The country w^e travelled through, on leaving Couhongue,
is handsome, with tolerably good villages, but the inhabitants
are wicked. Hoyarbarach forbade me to go out of my quar-
ters when we halted, even in villages, lest I should be assas-
sinated. There is near this place a celebrated bath, to which
sick persons come for a cure of their several disorders. There
S28 BEETRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 14.32,
are the remains of many houses that formerly belonged to
the Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem, ^vith the cross of Je-
rusalem on them.
After three days' march, we came to a small town, called
Achsaray*, situated at the foot of a high mountain that shel-
ters it from the south. The country is level, but not popu-
lous, and the natives have a bad character ; I was consequently
forbidden to leave my house in the evening. I travelled the
ensuing day between two high mountains, whose tops were
crowned with wood. The district is well peopled, partly by
the Turcomans, and consists of pasture and marsh land. I
there crossed a little brook that divides this country of kar-
man from that of the other karman possessed by Amurath
Bey, called by us the Grand Turk. This division resembles
the former, in being a flat country, with mountains here and
there.
On our road we passed a town with a castle, called Acha-
nay, and further on we came to a caravansera, where we in-
tended to pass the night, but we found there twenty-live asses.
Our commander refused to enter, and preferred returning a
league further back to a large village, where we lodged, and
found bread, cheese, and milk.
From this place we went to Carassar f, which took two days.
Carassar, in the Turkish Janguage, signifies " black stone."
It is the capital of the country that Amurath Bey took by
force of arms. Although uninclosed, it is a place of consider-
able trade, and has one of the finest castles I have seen, but
without any other water than what is collected in cisterns.
It is seated on the summit of a high rock, so round that it
might be thought to be worked with a chisel. Below is the
town, surrounding it on three sides; but both are commanded
by a mountain, from the north-east to the north-west. The
other side opens to a plain, through which runs a river. Not
long ago, the Greeks had gained possession of this place, but
afterv/ards lost it by their cowardice. They dress sheeps' feet
here with a cleanliness I have nowhere seen. I regaled
myself with them the more eagerly, as I had not eaten any
dressed meat since I had left Couhongue. They cook also a
nice dish with green w^alnuts. Their manner is to peel them,
* Ak-Serai, or Al-Shehr.
f Kara-hissar, which signifies black castle, and not black stone.
A.D. 1482.] KUTAIYEH. 329
cut them into two, and put them on a string; then they are
besprinkled with boiled wine, which attaches itself to them,
and forms a jelly like paste all around them. It is a very
agreeable food, especially when a person is hungry. We
were obliged to lay in a stock of bread and cheese for two
days, as I was disgusted with raw meat.
Two days were employed in journeying from Carassar to
Cotthay -'-^ The country is good, well watered, having no very
high mountains. We traversed one end of a forest, wdiich
seemed to me only remarkable for consisting entirely of oak,
taller and larger than any T had hitherto met with, having
besides, like fir-trees, branches only at the top. We took up
our quarters for the night at a caravansera, distant from any
habitations. We found there barley and straw in plenty., and
we could the more easily have supplied our wants, as there
was but a single servant to take care of them ; but the owners
never have any thing to fear of this kind, for at such places
there is no man so bold as to take the smallest article without
paying for it. On our road was a small river renowned for
its water. Hoyarbarach went to drink of. it with his women,
and wished me to do the same, he himself offering me some
in his leathern cup. This was the first time on the journey
that he had done me this favour.
Cotthay, although pretty considerable, is without w^alls ;
but it has a handsome and large castle, composed of three
forts rising one above the other, on the declivity of a hill,
which has a double inclosure. This place was the residence
of the son of the Grand Turk. There was a caravansera in
the town, whither we went to lodge. It was already occupied
by a party of Turks, and we were obliged, according to cus-
tom, to turn our horses pell-mell. On the next morning,
when making ready to depart, I perceived that one of my
straps had been taken, which served to fasten on my horse's
crupper, my carpets and other things I carried behind me.
At first I began to cry out with much noise and anger ; but
there was a Turkish slave present, one belonging to the sul-
tan's son, a man of weight and about fifty years old, who,
hearing me speak the language very incorrectly, took me by
the hand, and conducted me to the gate of the caravansera,
when he asked me in Italian who I was ? I was stupified to
* Eutaiyeh, the ancient Cotyjcium.
830 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIEEE. [a.D. 1432.
hear him thus speak, and replied that I was a Frank.
"Whence do you come?" "From Damascus, in company
with Hoyarbarach, and I am going to Bursa to meet one of
my brothers." " Indeed ! but you are a spy, and come to
make your remarks on this country. If you were not, would
you not have embarked, and returned home by sea?" This
unexpected accusation confounded me. I answered, however,
that the Venetians and Genoese were carrying on so bitter a
war that I was afraid to venture by sea. He asked whence I
came? "From the kingdom of France," was my answer.
"Are you from the neighbourhood of Paris?" I replied I
was not, and, in my turn, asked if he were acquainted with
Paris ? He said he had formerly been there with a captain,
named Bernabo. "Take my advice," continued he; "re-
turn to the caravansera, seek your horse, and bring him
hither to me, for there are some Albanian slaves, who will
steal from you every thing he carries. While I am taking
care of him, do you go and breakfast, and procure for yourself
and your horse provision for five days, for so long will you be
on the road without meeting with any." I followed his ad-
vice, and went to purchase provision. I breakfasted also the
more heartily as I had not tasted meat for two days, and was
told that I must not expect to meet with any for fi\e days
more.
When I quitted the caravansera, I took the road to Bursa -J^,
leaving that leading to Troy on my left, between the south
and west points. There were many high mountains, several
of which I had to pass over. I had also two days' journey
through forests, after which I traversed a handsome plain, in
which are some villages good enough for the country. Half a
day's journey from Bursa, we came to one that supplied us
with meat and grapes, which last were as fresh as in the time
of vintage ; this mode of preserving them is a secret they
have. The Turks offered me some roast meat ; but it was
not half dressed, and as the meat was roasting on the spit
we cut off slices. We had also some kaymack, or buffalo cream;
and it was so good and sweet that I ate of it till I almost
burst.
Before we entered this last village, we noticed the arrival
of a Turk from Bursa, who had been sent to the wife of
* Brusa, the ancient Prusa.
A.D. 143'^.] BEUSA. 331
Hoyarbarach, to announce to her the death of her father.
She showed great grief on the occasion, and I had then, for
the first time, an opportunity of seeing her face uncovered.
She was a most beautiful woman. There was at this place a
renegado slave, a native of Bulgaria, who through affectation
of zeal, and to show himself a good Saracen, reproached the
Turks of the caravan for having allowed me to be in their
company, saying it was sinful in them to do so, who were re-
turning from the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. In consequence,
they notified to me that we must separate, and I was obliged
to set off for Bursa. I departed, therefore, on the morrow,
an hour before day, with the aid of God, who had hitherto
conducted me. He now guided me so well, that I never asked
my road more than once on the whole way.
On entering the town, I met numbers of people coming
out to meet the caravan, for such is the custom. The most
considerable look on it as a duty, and it constitutes the festi-
val. Several of them, supposing I was one of the pilgrims,
kissed my hands and robe. When I had entered the town,
I was greatly embarrassed, for I had come to a square that
had four streets opening from it, and I knew not which to
take. God again pointed out to me the right one, that
which leads to the bazaar, where the merchants reside with
their merchandise. I addressed myself to the first Chris-
tian I saw, and fortunately he happened to be one of the
Espinolis of Genoa, the very person to whom Parvesin of
Baruth had given me letters. He was much surprised to
see me, and conducted me to the house of a Florentine,
where I was lodged, as well as my horse. I remained there
ten days, and employed that time in examining the town,
being conducted by the merchants, who took great pleasure in
so doing.
Of all the towns in the possession of the Turks this is the
most considerable. It is of great extent, carries on con-
siderable trade, and is situated at the foot of the north side
of Mount Olympus, whence flows a river which, passing
through the town, divides itself into several branches, form-
ing, as it were, a number of small towns that make it look
larger than it is. It is at Bilrsa that the Turkish sultans are
buried. There are many handsome buildings, and particu-
larly a great number of hospitals, among which there are four,
where bread, wine, and meat are frequently distributed to the
332 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432.
poor who will accept of them for the sake of God. At one of
the extremities of the town, towards the west, is a handsome
and vast castle, built on an eminence that may well contain a
thousand houses. There is also the place of the sultan,
■which they told me was a very delightful place within side,
having a garden and pretty pond. The prince had at that
time fifty wives ; and he often, as they said, amuses himself
in a boat with some of them on this piece of water.
Bursa was also the residence of Camurat, bashaw, or, as w^e
should say, governor or lieutenant of Turkey. He is a very
brave man, the most active the Turk has, and the most able
to conduct any enterprise, which qualities have been the prin-
cipal cause of his elevation to this lieutenancy. I asked if
he governed the country well, and if he knew how to make
himself obeyed. I was told that he was obeyed and re-
spected like Amurath himself, and had for his salary fifty
thousand ducats a year; and that, when the Turk went to
war, he brought him, at his own expense, twenty thousand
men; but that he had likewise his pensioners, who in this
case were bound to supply him at their charges, one with a
thousand men, another with two, another with three thousand,
and so on with the rest.
There are in Bursa two bazaars ; one where all sorts of
silken stuffs, and rich and brilliant diamonds, are sold, great
quantities of pearls, and cheap cotton cloths, and a variety of
other merchandise, the enumeration of which would be tire-
some. In the other bazaar, cotton and white soap are sold,
and constitute a great article of commerce. I saw also, in a
market-house, a lamentable sight — a public sale of Christians
for slaves, both men and women. The custom is to make
them sit down on benches, and he who comes to buy sees
only the face, the hands, and a little of the arm of the females.
I witnessed at Damascus the sale of a young black girl, of
not more than fifteen or sixteen years of age ; she was led
along the streets quite naked, excepting the belly, the hinder
parts, and a little below them.
It w^as at Bursa that I ate, for the first time, caviare and
olive oil. This food is only fit for Greeks, and when nothing
better can be had. Some days after the return of Hoyar-
barach, I went to take leave of him, and to thank him for the
means he had procured me of continuing my journey to this
place. I found him in the bazaar, seated on an elevated
A.D. 1432.] KOUTE TO CONSTANTINOPLE. 333
stone bench, with many of the principal inhabitants of the
town. The merchants had accompanied me in this visit:
some of them, Florentines by nation, interested themselves
on behalf of a Spaniard, who, having been a slave to the sul-
tan, found means to escape from Egypt and come to Bursa.
They begged I would take him with me. I carried him at
my expense as far as Constantinople, where I left him ; but I
am persuaded he was a renegade, and I have never heard any
thing of him since.
Three Genoese had bought spices from the merchants of
the caravan, and intended carrying them for sale to Pera,
near Constantinople, and on the other side of the straits, which
w^e call the Straits of St. George. Wishing to take the ad-
vantage of their company, I waited for their departure, and
for this reason stayed at Bursa, for no one can pass this strait
unless he be known. With this view, they procured me a let-
ter from the governor, which I carried with me; but it was
useless, for I found means to cross with them. We set out
together ; but they made me, for greater security, buy a high
red hat, with a huvette of iron wire ^, which I wore as far as
Constantinople.
On leaving Bursa, we travelled northward over a plain
watered by a deep river, which, about four leagues lower
down, falls into the gulf between Constantinople and Galli-
poli. We had a day's journey among mountains, which wood
and a clayey soil made very disagreeable. There was on the
road a small tree bearing a fruit somewhat bigger than our
largest cherries, and of the shape and taste of strawberries,
but a little acid. It is pleasant to eat ; but, if a great quan-
tity be eaten, it mounts to the head, and intoxicates. It is
ripe in November and December f.
From the summit of the mountain, the gulf of Gallipoli is
visible ; and when we had descended it we entered a valley
terminated by a very large lake, round which many houses
are built. It w^as there I first saw Turkish carpets made. I
passed the night in this valley, which is very fertile in rice.
On pursuing our road, we came sometimes to mountains,
valleys, pasture-lands, and great forests, which it would be
impossible to pass without a guide, and where the horses
* The huvette was a kind of ornament worn on the hat.
f From the description, it seems to be the arbutus Andrachne.
334 BEETEANDON DE LA BEOCQUIEEE. [a.D. 1432.
plunge so deeply in the soil that they can hardly extricate
themselves. I believe, for my part, that is the forest spoken
of in the history of Godfrey de Bouillon, which he had such
difficulty to traverse. I passed the night on the further side
of it, at a village within four leagues of Nicomedia, which is
a large town, with a harbour for shipping. This harbour is
called Lenguo, and commences at the gulf of Constantinople,
and extends to the town, where it is a bow-shot in breadth.
All this country is difficult to travel ; but beyond Nicomedia,
towards Constantinople, it is very fine, and tolerably good
travelling. It is more peopled with Greeks than Turks ; but
these Greeks have a greater aversion to the Latin Christians
than the Turks themselves.
I coasted the gulf of Constantinople, and leaving the road
to Nicea, a town situated to the southward near the Black
Sea, I successively lodged at a village in ruins, inhabited
solely by Greeks ; then at another near to Scutari ; and,
lastly, at Scutari itself, on the strait, and opposite to Pera.
The Turks guard this passage -i', and receive a toll from all
who cross it. It has rocks that would make it easy of defence,
if they were fortified. Men and horses can readily embark
and disembark. My companions and I crossed in two Greek
vessels. The owners of my boat took me for a Turk, and paid
me great honours; but when they saw me, after landing, leave
my horse at the gate of Pera to be taken care of, and inquire
after a Genoese merchant named Christopher Parvesin, to
whom I had letters, they suspected I was a Christian. Two
of them waited for me at the gate, and when I returned for
my horse they demanded more than I had agreed on for my
passage, and wanted to cheat me. I believe they would even
have struck me, had they dared; I had my sword and my
good tarquais, but a Genoese shoemaker who lived hard by,
coming to my aid, they were forced to retreat. I mention
this as a warning to travellers, who, like me, may have any
thing to do with the Greeks. All those with whom I have
had any concerns have only made me more suspicious, for I
have found more probity in the Turks. These people f love
not the Christians of the Eoman persuasion, and the submis-
■* The Turks at this time held Scutari, but they had not obtained posses-
sion of Constantinople.
+ The Greeks. It was their hatred to the Latin church which facilitated
the fall of Constantinople.
A.B. 1432.] PEKA. 335
sion which they have since made to this church was more
through self-interest than sincerity^. Therefore I have been
told that, a little before I came to Constantinople, the pope,
in a general council, had declared them schismatics and ac-
cursed, and had devoted them to be the slaves of slaves f.
Pera is a large town, inhabited by Greeks, Jews, and
Genoese ; the last are masters of it, imder the duke of Milan,
who styles himself Lord of Pera. It has a podestat and other
officers, who govern it after their manner. A great commerce
is carried on with the Turks ; but the latter have a singular
privilege, namely, that should any of their slaves run away,
and seek an asylum in Pera, they must be given up. The
port is the handsomest of all that I have seen, and I believe
I may add, of any in the possession of the Christians, for the
largest Genoese vessels may lie alongside the quays ; but, as
all the world knows this, I shall not say more. It, however,
seems to me, that on the land side and near the church, in
the vicinity of the gate at the extremity of the haven, the
place is weak.
I met at Pera an ambassador from the duke of Milan,
named Sir Benedicto de Fourlino. The duke, wanting the
support of the emperor Sigismond against the Venetians, and
seeing Sigismond embarrassed with the defence of his king-
dom of Hungary against the Turks, had sent an embassy to
Amurath, to negotiate a peace between the two princes. Sir
Benedicto, in honour of my lord of Burgundy, gave me a
gracious reception. He even told me, that to do mischief to
the Venetians he had contributed to make them lose Salonica,
taken from them by the Turks ; and certainly in this he acted
* In 1438, John Paleologus II. came to Italy to form a union between
tlie Greek and Latin churches, which took place the ensuing year at the
council of Florence. But this step, as La Brocquiere remarks, was, on the
part of the emperor, hut a political operation, dictated by interest, and with-
out consequence. His dominions were then in so miserable a state, and
himself so harassed by the Turks, that he was anxious to procure the aid of
the Latins; and it was with this hope that he had come to inveigle the pope.
This epoch, of 1438, is of consequence to our travels ; for it proves, since
La Brocquiere quotes it, that he published it posterior to that year.
f An error. The general council that took place a little before he came
to Constantinople was that of Basil in 1431, when, far from anathematising
and cursing the Greeks, it was occupied about their reunion. This pre-
tended malediction was undoubtedly a report, which those who were against
this reunion spread abroad in Constantinople; and the traveller seems to
have thought so by the expression '' it was told me."
336 BEKTEAKDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1432.
SO much the worse, for I have since seen the inhabitants of
that town deny Jesus Christ and embrace the Mohammedan
religion.
There was also at Pera a Neapolitan, called Peter of
Naples, with whom I was acquainted. He said he was mar-
ried in the country of Prester John, and made many efforts to
induce me to go thither with him. I questioned him much
respecting this country, and he told me many things which I
shall here insert, but 1 know not whether what he said be the
truth, and shall not therefore warrant any part of it ^-5'-.
Two days after my arrival at Pera, I crossed the haven to
Constantinople, to visit that city. It is large and spacious,
having the form of a triangle ; one side is bounded by the
Straits of St. George, another towards the south by the bay,
which extends as far as Gallipoli, and on the north side is the
port. There are, it is said, three large towns on the earth,
each inclosing seven hills, — Eome, Constantinople, and Anti-
och. Eome is, I think, larger and more compact than Con-
stantinople. As for Antioch, as I only saw it when passing
by, I cannot speak of its size ; its hills, however, appeared to
me higher than those of the two others.
They estimate the circuit of the city of Constantinople at
eighteen miles, a third of which is on the land side towards
the west. It is well inclosed with walls, particularly on the
land side. This extent, estimated at six miles from one angle
to the other, has likewise a deep ditch, en glacis, excepting
for about two hundred paces at one of its extremities, near
the palace called Blaqueme. I was assured that the Turks
had failed in their attempt to take the town at this weak
j)art. Fifteen or twenty feet in front of this ditch is a false bray
of a good and high w^all. At the two extremities of this line
were formerly handsome palaces, which, if we may judge from
their present ruins, were also very strong. I was told they
had been destroyed by an emperor, when taken prisoner by
the Turks and in danger of his life. The conqueror insisted
* The manner in which our traveller here announces the relation of the
Neapolitan shows how little he believed it ; and in this his usual good sense
does not forsake him. This recital is, in fact, but a tissue of absurd fables
and revolting marvels, undeserving to be quoted, although they may gene-
rally be found in authors of those times. They are, therefore, here omitted ;
most of them, however, will be found in the narrative of John de Maun-
deville.
A.D. 1432.] CONSTANTINOPLE. ' 337
on his surrendering Constantinople, and, in case of refusal,
threatened to put him to death. The other replied, that he
preferred death to the disgrace of afflicting Christendom by
so great a loss, and that his death would be nothing in com-
parison. When the Turk saw he could gain nothing by this
means, he offered him his liberty on condition that the square
in front of St. Sophia should be demolished, with the two
palaces. His project was thus to weaken the town, that he
might the more easily take it. The emperor accepted his
offers, the proof of w^hich exists at this day.
Constantinople is formed of many separate parts, so that it
contains several open spaces to a greater extent than those
built on. The largest vessels can anchor under its walls, as
at Pera; it has, beside, a small harbour in the interior,
capable of containing three or four galleys. This is situated
to the southward, near a gate, where a hillock is pointed out
composed of bones of the Christians, who, after the conquests
of Jerusalem and Acre, by Godfrey de Bouillon, w^ere return-
ing by this strait. When the Greeks had ferried them over,
they conducted them to this place, which is remote and secret,
where they were murdered. The whole, although a very
numerous body, would have thus perished, had not a page
found means to re-cross to Asia, and inform them of the-
danger that awaited them. On this, they spread themselves
on the shores of the Black Sea; and from them are said to be
descended those rude Christians who inhabit that part of the
country — Circassians, Mingrelians, Ziques, Gothlans, and
Anangats. But, as this is an old story, I know of it no more-
than what w^as told me.
The city has many handsome churches, but the most re-
markable and principal is that of St. Sophia, where the patri-
arch resides, with others of the rank of canons. It is of a
circular shape, situated near the eastern point, and formed of
three different parts ; one subterraneous, another above the
ground, and a third over that. Formerly it was surrounded
by cloisters, and was three miles, as they say, in circumfer-
ence. It is now of smaller extent, and only three cloisters
remain, all paved, and incrusted with squares of white marble,
and ornamented with large columns of various colours-. The
* Two of these galleries, or porticos, called by our author cloisters, as well
as the columns, still exist. These last are formed of different materials,
Z
838 BEETEANDON DE LA BEOCQUIEEE. [A.D. 1432.
gates are remarkable for their breadth, and height, and are of
brass. This church, they say, possesses one of the robes of
our Lord, the end of the lance that pierced his side, the
sponge that was offered him to drink from, and the reed that
was put into his hand. I can only say, that behind the choir,
I was shown the gridiron on which St. Laurence was broiled,
and a large stone in the shape of a wash-stand, on which they
say Abraham gave the angels to eat, w^hen they were going to
destroy Sodom and G omorrah. I was curious to witness the
manner of the Greeks' performing divine service, and went to
St. Sophia on a day when the patriarch officiated. The em-
peror was present, accompanied by his wife, his mother, and his
brother, the despot of the Morea-i^ A mystery was represented,
the subject of which was the three youths whom Nebuchad-
nezzar had ordered to be thrown into the fiery furnace f .
The empress, daughter to the emperor of Trebisonde,
seemed very handsome, but as I was at a distance I wished
to have a nearer view ; and I was also desirous to see how she
mounted her horse, for it was thus she had come to the church,
attended only by two ladies, three old men, ministers of state,
and three of that species of men to whose guard the Turks
intrust their wives. On coming out of St. Sophia, she went
into an adjoining house to dine, which obliged me to wait until
she returned to her palace, and consequently to pass the whole
day without eating or drinking. At length she appeared. A
bench was brought forth and placed near her horse, which was
superb, and had a magnificent saddle. When she had
mounted the bench, one of the old men took the long mantle
she wore, passed to the opposite side of the horse, and held it
in his hands extended as high as he could ; during this, she
put her foot in the stirrup, and bestrode the horse like a man.
When she was in her seat, the old man cast the mantle over
her shoulders; after which, one of those long hats with a
point, so common in Greece, was given to her ; it was orna-
porphyry, granite, marble, &c. ; and this is the reason why the traveller, not
"being a naturalist, represents them as being of various colours.
* This emperor was John Paleologus II. ; his brother Demetrius, despot
or prince of the Peloponnesus ; his mother Irene, daughter to Constantine
Dragases, sovereign of a small country in Macedonia; his wife Maria Com-
nenes, daughter to Alexis, emperor of Trebisonde.
t These devout plays were then as common in the Greek church as in the
Latin. They were called ^"^ Mysteries" in France; and this is the name
given by our traveller to the one he saw in St. Sophia.
A.D. 143S.] CONSTANTINOPLE. 339
mented at one of the extremities with three golden plumes,
and was yery becoming. I was so near that I was ordered to
fall back, and, consequently, had a full view of her. She wore
in her ears broad and flat rings, set with several precious
stones, especially rubies. She looked young and fair, and
handsomer than w^hen in church. In one word, I should not
have had a fault to find with her, had she not been painted,
and assuredly she had not any need of it. The two ladies
mounted their horses at the same time that she did; they
w^ere both handsome, and wore, like her, mantles and hats.
The company returned to the palace of Blaquerne.
In the front of St. Sophia is a large and handsome square,
surrounded with walls like a palace, where games were per-
formed in ancient times-''. I saw the brother of the emperor,
the despot of the Morea, exercising himself there, wdth a score
of other horsemen. Each had a bow, and they galloped along
the inclosure, throwing their hats before them, w^hich, when
they had passed, they shot at ; and he wlio with his arrow-
pierced his hat, or was nearest to it, was esteemed the most
expert. This exercise they had adopted from the Turks, and it
w^as one of which they w-ere endeavouring to make themselves
masters.
On this side, near the point of the angle, is the beautiful
church of St. George, which has, fronting Turkey in Asia, a
tower at the narrowest part of the straits. On the other side,
to the westward, is a very high square column, with characters
traced on it, and bearing on the summit an equestrian statue
of Constantino, in bronze. He holds a sceptre in his left
hand, with his right extended towards Turkey in Asia, and
the road to Jerusalem, as if to denote that the whole of that
countr}^ was under his government. Near this column are
three others, placed in a line, and of one single piece, bearing
three gilt horses, now at Venice f.
In the pretty church of the Pantheacrator, occupied by
Greek monks, who are what we should call in France Grey
Franciscan Friars, I was shown a stone or table of divers
colours, which Nicodemus had caused to be cut for his own
tomb, and which he made use of to lay out the body of
our Lord, when he took him down from the cross. Dur-
ing this operation the virgin was w^eeping over the body, but
* The Greek hippodrome — the atmeidan of the Turks.
+ There are four.
Z 2
840 BEETEANDON DE LA BEOCQUIEEE. [A.D. 1432.
her tears, instead of remaining on it, fell on the stone, and
they are all now to be seen upon it. I at first took them for
drops of wax, and touched them with my hand, and then
"bended down to look at them horizontally, and against the
light, when they seemed to me like drops of congealed water.
This is a thing that may have been seen by many persons as
well as myself. In the same church are the tombs of Con-
stantino and of St. Helena, his mother, raised each about
eight feet high on a column, having its summit terminated in
a point, cut into four sides, in the fashion of a diamond. It
is reported that the Venetians, while in power at Constanti-
nople, took the body of St. Helena from its tomb, and carried
it to Venice, where they say it is now entire. It is added,
that they attempted the same thing in regard to the body of
Constantino, but could not succeed; and this is probable
enough, for to this day two broken parts are to be seen, where
they made the attempt. The two tombs are of red jasper.
In the church of St. Apostola is shown the broken shaft of
the column to which our Saviour was fastened when he was
beaten with rods, by order of Pilate. This shaft, longer than
the height of a man, is of the same stone with the two others
that I have seen, at Eome and at Jerusalem ; but this ex-
ceeds in size the other two put together. There are likewise
in the same church, in wooden coffins, many holy bodies, very
entire, and any one that chooses may see them. One of them
had his head cut off, and that of another saint has been
given him. The Greeks, however, have not the like devo-
tion that we have for these relics. It is the same in respect
to the stone of Nicodemus and the pillar of our Lord, which
last is simply inclosed by planks, and placed upright near one
of the columns on the right hand of the great entrance at the
front of the church.
Among the fine churches, I shall mention one more as
remarkable, namely, that called Blaquerne, from being near
the imperial palace, which, although small and badly roofed,
has paintings, with a pavement and incrustations of marble.
I doubt not but there may be others worthy of notice, but I
"was unable to visit them all. The Latin merchants have one
situated opposite to the passage to Pera, where mass is daily
said after the Roman manner.
There are merchants from all nations in this city, but
none so powerful as the Venetians, who have a bailiff to
A.D. 1432.] consta:n'tinople. 341
regulate all tlieir affairs, independent of the emperor and his
officers. This privilege they have enjoyed for a long time --.
It is even said, that they have twice by their galleys saved the
town from the Turks; but, for my part, I believe that God
has spared it, more for the holy relics it contains than for any
thing else. The Turks have also an officer to superintend
their commerce, who, like the Venetian bailiff, is independent
of the emperor ; they have even the privilege, that if one of
their slaves shall run away, and take refuge within the city,
on their demanding him, the emperor is bound to give
him up.
This prince must be under great subjection to the Turk,
since he pays him, as I am told, a tribute of ten thousand
ducats annually; and this sum is only for Constantinople,
for beyond that town he possesses nothing but a castle
situated three leagues to the north, and in Greece a small
city called Salubria.
I was lodged with a Catalonian merchant, who having told
one of the officers of the palace that I was attached to my
lord of Burgundy, the emperor caused me to be asked if it
were true that the duke had taken the Maid of Orleans,
which the Greeks would scarcely believe. I told them truly
how the matter had passed, at which they were greatly
astonished f.
The merchants informed me, that on Candlemas-day there
would be a solemn service performed in the afternoon, similar
to what we perform on that day, and they conducted me
thither. The emperor was at one end of the hall, seated on
a cushion. The empress saw the ceremony from a window in
an upper apartment. The chaplains who chant the service
are strangely ornamented and dressed ; they sing the service
by heart, " selon leurs dois."
Some days after, they carried me to see a feast given on
account of the marriage of one of the emperor's relations.
There was a tournament after the manner of the country, but
which appeared very strange to me. I will describe it. In
the middle of a square they had planted, like a quintain,
* Since tlie conquest of the East by tlie Latins, in 1204, to whicli con-
quest the Venetians greatly contributed.
'\' The jQucelle had been made prisoner in 1430, by an officer of Jean de
Luxembourg, the duke's general, and, being afterwards sold by Jean to the
English^ was burnt the following year.
842 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [A.D. 1433.
a large pole, to which was fastened a plank three feet wide
and five feet long. Forty cavaliers advanced to the spot,
without any arms or armour whatever but a short stick. They
at first amused themselves by running after each other, which
lasted for about half an hour ; then from sixty to fourscore
rods of elder were brought, of the thickness and length of
those we use for thatching. The bridegroom first took one,
and set off full gallop towards the plank, to break it ; as it
shook in his hand, he broke it with ease, when shouts of joy
resounded, and the instruments of music, namely, nacaires, like
those of the Turks, began to play. Each of the other cava-
liers broke their wands in the same manner. Then the
bridegroom tied two of them together, which in truth were
not too strong, and broke them without being wounded*.
Thus ended the feast, and every one returned to his home
safe and sound. The emperor and empress had been specta-
tors of it from a window.
My intentions were to leave Constantinople with this Sir Bene-
dict de Fourlino, who, as I have said, had been sent ambassador
to the Turk by the duke of Milan. There was a gentleman
named Jean Visconti, and seven other persons in his company,
with ten led horses ; for when a traveller passes through
Greece, he must absolutely carry every necessary with him.
I departed from Constantinople the 23rd of January, 1433,
and first came to the pass of Pdgory, which was formerly
tolerably strong ; it is formed in a valley through which runs
an arm of the sea, twenty miles long. There was a tower,
but the Turks have destroyed it. In this place there remains
a bridge, a causeway, and a Greek village. In the way to
Constantinople by land, there is but this pass, and another
low^er down, still more dangerous, on a river which there dis-
charges itself into the sea. From Eigory I went to Thiras,
inhabited also by Greeks ; it has been a good town, and a
pass as strong as the preceding one, being formed in like
manner by the sea. At each end of the bridge there was a
large tower ; but tower and town have been entirely destroyed
by the Turks.
* La Brocquiere must have thought these joiistings ridiculous, from being
accustomed to our tournaments, where the knights, cased in iron, fought with
swords, lances, and battle-axes, and where, very frequently, men were killed,
wounded, or trodden under foot by the horses. This has made him twice
say, that in this jousting with sticks no one was wounded.
A.D. 1433.] ADKIANOPLE. 313
I went from Thiras to Salubria. This town, two days' journey
from Constantinople, is situated on the gulf that extends
from this place as far as Gallipoli, and has a small harbour.
The Turks could never take it, although it is not strong toward
the sea. It belongs to the emperor, as well as the whole
country hitherto ; but this country is completely ruined, and
has but poor villages. Thence I came to Chorleu, formerly
considerable, destroyed by the Turks, and now inhabited by
them and Greeks. Next to Chorleu is Misterio, a small in-
closed place, inhabited only by Greeks, with one single Turk,
to whom his prince has given it. From Misterio we came to
Pirgasy, where there are none but Turks. The walls have
been thrown down. Zambry is the next place to Pirgasy, and
is equally destroyed.
We next came to Adrianople, a large commercial town^
very populous, and situated on a great river called the Mariza,
six days' journey from Constantinople. This is the strongest
town possessed by the Turk in Greece, and here he chiefly
resides. The lieutenant or governor of Greece lives here also;
and many merchants from Venice, Catalonia, Genoa, and
Florence are likewise residents. The country from Constanti-
nople hither is good and well watered, but thinly peopled,
having fertile valleys that produce every thing but wood.
The Turk was at Lessere*, a large town in Pyrre, near to
Pharsalia, where the decisive battle was fought between
Csesar and Pompey, and Sir Benedict took the road thither to
wait on him. We crossed the Mariza in a boat, and shortly
after met fifty women of the Turk's seraglio, attended by
about sixteen eunuchs, who told us they were escorting them
to Adrianople, whither their master proposed soon following
them.
We came to Dymodiquef, a good town, inclosed with a
double wall. It is defended on one side by a river, and on
the other by a large and strong castle, constructed on an ele-
vation which is almost round, and which may contain within
its extent three hundred houses. In the castle is a dungeon,
wherein I was told the Turk keeps his treasure. From
Demetica we came to Ypsalaj; it has been a tolerable town,
but is totally destroyed. I crossed the Mariza a second time.
* Perhaps Larissa (Seres), in Phrygia. f Demetica? J Cypsela]
344 BERTEANDON DE LA BEOCQUIERE. [A.D. 143
It is two days' journey from Adrianople, and the country
throughout was marshy, and difficult for the horses.
Ayne'5^, beyond Ypsala, is on the sea-shore, and at the
mouth of the Mariza, which at this place is full two miles
wide. When Troy flourished this was a powerful city, and
had a king; at present its lord is brother to the lord of
Matelin, and tributary to the Turk. On the circular hillock
is the tomb of Polydore, the youngest of the sons of Priam.
The father had sent this son during the siege of Troy,
to the king of Eno, with much treasure; but, after the
destruction of Troy, the king, as much through fear of the
Greeks as the wish to possess this treasure, put the young
prince to death.
At Eno, I crossed the Mariza in a large vessel and came to
Maori, another maritime town to the westward of the first,
and inhabited by Turks and Greeks. It is near to the island
of Samandraf, which belongs to the lord of Eno, and seems
to have been formerly considerable ; at present the whole of
it is in ruins excepting a part of the castle. Caumissin,
whither we came next, after having traversed a mountain, has
good walls, which make it sufficiently strong although it is
small. It is situated on a brook, in a fine flat country, in-
closed by mountains to the westward; and this plain extends
for five or six days' journey, to Lessere. Missy was equally
strong, and well fortified, but part of its walls are thrown down
and every thing within is destroyed ; it is uninhabited.
Peritoq, an ancient town, and formerly considerable, is
seated on a gulf which runs inland about forty miles, begin-
ning at Monte Santo, where are such numbers of monks.
The inhabitants are Greeks, and it is defended by good walls,
which have, however, many breaches in them. Thence to
Lessere, the road leads over an extensive plain. It was
near Lessere, they say, that the grand battle of Pharsalia
was fought.
We did not proceed to this last town ; for hearing the Turk
was on the road we waited for him at Yamgbatsar, a village
constructed by his subjects. When he travels, his escort
consists of four or five hundred horse ; but, as he is passion-
ately fond of hawking, the greater part of his troop was com-
* Eno. t Samothraki?
A.D. 1433.] THE GKAND TUEK. 345
posed of falconers and goshawk-trainers, a people that are
great favourites with him ; and it is said that he keeps more
than two thousand of them. Having this passion, he travels
very short days' journeys, which are to him more an object of
amusement and pleasure. He entered Yamgbatsar in a
shower of rain, having only fifty horsemen attending him and
a dozen archers, his slaves, walking on foot before him. His
dress was a robe of crimson velvet, lined with sable, and on
his head he wore, like the Turks, a red hat ; to save himself
from the rain, he had thrown over this robe another, in the
manner of a mantle, after the fashion of the country.
He w^as encamped in a pavilion which had been brought
with him; for lodgings are nowhere to be m^et with, nor any
provision, except in the large towns, so that travellers are
obliged to carry all things with them. He had numbers of
camels and other beasts of burden. In the afternoon he
came out of his pavilion to go to the bath, and I saw him at
my ease. He w^as on horseback, with the same hat and crim-
son robe, attended by six persons on foot. I heard him speak
to his attendants, and he seemed to have a deep-toned voice.
He is about twenty-eight or thirty years old, and is already
very fat.
The ambassador sent one of his attendants to ask him if
he could have an audience, and present him the gifts he had
brought. He made answer, that, being now occupied with his
pleasures, he would not listen to any matters of business ;
that, besides, his bashaws were absent ; that the ambassador
must wait for them, or return to Adrianople. Sir Benedict
accepted the latter proposal, and consequently we returned to
Caumissin, whence, having repassed the mountain I have
spoken of, we entered a road formed between two high rocks,
and through them flows a river. A strong castle, called Co-
loung, had been built on one of these rocks for its defence,
but it is now in ruins. The mountain is partly covered with
wood, and is inhabited by a wicked race of assassins.
At length we arrived at Trajanopoly, a town built by the
emperor Trajan, who did many things worthy of record. He
was the son of the founder of Adrianople ; and the Saracens
say that he had an ear like to that of a sheep '^. This town
* Trajanopoly was not so called from having been built by Trajan, but
because he died there. It existed before his time, and was named Seli-
nunte. Hadrian was not the father of Trajan, but his adopted son, and, in
346 BERTEAXDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [A.D. 1433.
was very large, near to the sea and tlie Mariza; but now no-
thing is seen but ruins, with a few inhabitants. A mountain
rises to the east of it, and the sea lies on the south. One of
its baths bears the name of Holy Water. Further on is Vyra,
an ancient castle, demolished in many places. A Greek told
me the church had three hundred canons attached to it. The
choir is still remaining, but the Turks have converted it mto
a mosque. They have also surrounded the castle with a con-
siderable town, inhabited by them and Greeks. It is seated
on a mountain, near the Mariza.
On leaving Vyra, we met the lieutenant of Greece, whom
the Turk had sent for, and he was on his road to him with a
troop of one hundred and twenty horse. He is a hand-
some man, a native of Bulgaria, and had been the slave of
his master; but as he has the talent of drinking hard, the
prince gave him the government of Greece, with a revenue
of fifty thousand ducats. Demetica, on my return, appeared
much larger and handsomer than I thought it the first time ;
and, if it be true that the Turk has there deposited his trea-
sure, he is certainly ui the right to do so.
We were forced to wait eleven days in Adrianople. At
length he arrived, on the first day of Lent, The mufti, who
is with them what the pope is to us, went out to meet him,
accompanied by the principal persons of the town, who formed
a long procession. He was already near the town when they
met him, but had halted to take some refreshment, and had
sent forward part of his attendants. He did not make his
entry until night-fall.
During my stay at Adrianople I had the opportunity of
making acquaintance with several persons who had resided at
his court, and consequently knew him w^ell, and who told me
many particulars about him. In the first place, as I have
seen him frequently, I shall say that he is a little, short, thick
man, with the physiognomy of a Tartar. He has a broad
and brown face, high cheek bones, a round beard, a great and
crooked nose, with little eyes ; but they say he is kind, good,
generous, and willingly gives away lands and money. His
this riglit, became his successor. Adrianople was not founded by Hadrian.
An earthquake had ruined it, and he ordered it to be rebuilt, and gave it his
name. Such errors are excusable in an author of the fifteenth century. As
for the sheep's ear^ it is spoken of as a Saracenic fable.
A.D. 1433.] THE GRATsD TUEK. 347
revenues are two millions and a lialf of ducats, including
twenty-five thousand received as tribute-money*. Besides,
when he raises an army, it not only costs him nothing, hut
he gains by it ; for the troops that are brought him from
Turkey in Europe, pay at Gallipoli, the comarch, which is
three aspers for each man, and five for each horse. It is the
same at the passage of the Danube. Whenever his soldiers
go on an expedition, and make a capture of slaves, he has the
right of choosing one out of every hYC. He is, nevertheless,
thought not to love war, and this seems to me well founded.
He has, in fact, hitherto met with such trifling resistance
from Christendom that, were he to employ all his power and
wealth on this object, it would be easy for him to conquer
great part of itf. His favourite pleasures are hunting and
hawking; and he has, as they say, upwards of a thousand
hounds, and two thousand trained hawks of different sorts, of
which I have seen very many. He loves liquor and those
who drink hard ; as for himself, he can easily quaff off from
ten to twelve gondils of wine, which amount to six or seven
quarts t- When he has drunk much, he becomes generous,
and distributes his great gifts; his attendants, therefore, are
very happy when they hear him call for wine. Last year, a
Moor took it into his head to preach to him on this subject,
admonishing him that wine was forbidden by the prophet, and
that those who drank it were not good Saracens. The only
answer the prince gave was to order him to prison : he then
banished him his territories, with orders never again to set
his foot on them. He unites to his love for women a taste
* There must be here an error of the copyist, for 25,000 ducats as tri-
bute is too small a sum. We shall see, further on, that the despot of Servia
paid annually 50,000 for himself alone.
f The sultan mentioned here under the name of Amourat Bey is Amou-
rath II., one of the most celebrated of the Ottoman princes. History records
many of his victories, which are indeed for the most part posterior to the
account of our traveller. If he did not conquer more, it was owing to
having Huniades, or Scanderberg, opposed to him. But his glory was eclipsed
by that of his son, the famous Mohammed II., the terror of Christians, and
surnamed by his countrymen " the G-reat," who twenty years after this
period, in 1453, took Constantinople, and destroyed Avhat little remained of
the Greek empire.
J The cjitarte, so called from being the fourth part of the chenet, which
contained four pots and one French pint. The pot held two pints, conse-
quently the quarte made two bottles more than half a septier ; and twelve
gondils made twenty-three bottles.
348 BERTKANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1433
for boys, and has three hundred of the former and about
thirty of the latter, which he prefers, and when they are
grown up he recompenses them with rich presents and lord-
ships. One of them he married to a sister of his, with an
annual income of '25,000 ducats. Some persons estimate his
treasure at half a million of ducats, others at a million.
This is exclusive of his plate, his slaves, the jewels for his
■^vomen, which last article is estimated alone at a million of
gold. I am convinced that if he would for one year abstain
from thus giving away blindly, and hold his hand, he would
lay by a million of ducats without wronging any one.
Every now and then he makes great and remarkable ex-
amples of justice, which procures him perfect obedience at
home and abroad. He likewise knows how to keep his coun-
try in an excellent state of defence, without oppressing his
Turkish subjects by taxes or other modes of extortion. His
household is composed of five thousand persons, as well horse
as foot ; but in war-time he does not augment their pay, so
that he does not expend more than in time of peace, contrary
to what happens in other nations. His principal officers are
three bashaws, or visir bashaws. The visir is a counsellor ;
the bashaw a sort of chief, or lieutenant. These three have
the charge of all that concerns himself or his household, and
no one can speak with him but through them. When he is
in Greece, the lieutenant of Greece has the superintendence
of the army ; and when in Turkey, the lieutenant of Turkey.
He has given away great possessions, but he may resume
them at pleasure. Besides, those to whom they have been
given are bound to serve him in war, Avith a certain number
of troops, at their own expense.
It is thus that Greece annually supplies him with thirty
thousand men, whom he may lead whither he pleases ; and
Turkey ten thousand, for w^hom he only finds provisions.
Should he want a more considerable army, Greece alone, as
they tell me, can then furnish him with one hundred and
twenty thousand more ; but he is obliged to pay for these.
The pay is five aspers for the infantry, and eight for the
cavalry. I have, however, heard, that of these hundred and
twenty thousand there was but half, that is to say, the cavalry,
that were properly equipped, and well armed with tarquais and
sword ; the rest were composed of men on foot miserably ac-
coutered ; some having swords without bows, others without
A.D. 1433.] MILITARY FORCE OF THE TURK. 349
swords, bows, or any arms whatever, many having only staves.
It is the same with the infantry supplied by Turkey, one-half
armed with staves. This Turkish infantry is nevertheless
more esteemed than the Greek, and considered as better
soldiers.
Other persons, whose testimony I regard as authentic, have
since told me, that the troops Turkey is obliged to furnish,
when the prince wants to form an army, amount to thirty
thousand men, and those from Greece to twenty, without in-
cluding two or three thousand slaves of his own, whom he
arms well. Among these slaves are many Christians ; and
there are likewise numbers of them among the troops from
Greece, Albanians, Bulgarians, and from other countries. In
the last army from Greece, there were three thousand Servian
horse, which the despot of the province had sent under the
command of one of his sons. It was with great regret that
these people came to serve him, but they dared not refuse.
The bashaws arrived at Adrianople three days after their
lord, bringing with them part of his people and his baggage.
This baggage consists of about a hundred camels, and two
hundred and fifty mules and sumpter horses, as the nation
does not use wagons.
Sir Benedict was impatient to have an audience, and made
inquiries of the bashaws if he could see the prince : their
answer was a negative. The reason of this refusal was, that
they had been drinking \vith him, and were all intoxicated. "
They, however, sent on the morrow to the ambassador to let
him know they were visible, when he instantly waited on each
with his presents ; for such is the custom of the country, that
no one can speak to them without bringing something ; even
the slaves who guard their gates are not exempted from it.
I accompanied him on this visit. On the following day, in
the afternoon, he was informed that he might come to the
palace. He instantly mounted his horse to go thither with
his attendants, and I joined the company ; but we were all
on foot, he alone being on horseback.
In front of the court we found a great number of men and
horses. The gate was guarded by about thirty slaves, under
the command of a chief, armed with staves. Should any per-
son offer to enter without permission, they bid him retire : if
he persist, they drive him away with their staves. What we
call the court of the king, the Turks call " Porte du Seig-
850 BEKTKANDON DE LA BKOCQUIERE. [a.D. 1433.
neur."'!^ Every time the prince receives a message or an
embassy, which happens almost daily, " il fait porte." " Faire
porte," is for him the same as when our kings of France hold
royal state and open court, although there is much difference
between the two ceremonies, as I shall presently show.
When the ambassador had entered, they made him sit down
near the gate, with many other persons who were waiting for
the prince to quit his apartment and hold his court. The
three bashaws first entered, with the governor of Greece and
others of the great lords. His chamber looked into a very
large court; the governor went thither to wait for him. At
length he appeared. His dress was, as usual, a crimson satin
robe, over which he had, by way of mantle, another of green
figured satin, lined with sable. His young boys accompanied
him, but no further than to the entrance of the apartment,
when they returned. There was nobody with him. but a small
dwarf, and two young persons who acted the part of fools f .
He walked across an angle of the court to a gallery, where a
seat had been prepared for him. It w^as a kind of couch
covered with velvet, and four or five steps to mount to it. He
seated himself on it, like to our tailors wdien they are going
to w^ork, and the three bashaws took their places a little way
from him. The other officers, who on these days make part
of the attendants, likewise entered the gallery, and posted
themselves along the walls as far from him as they could.
Without, but fronting him, were twenty Wallachian gentle-
men seated, who had been detained by him as hostages for
the good conduct of their countrymen. Within this apart-
ment were placed about a hundred dishes of tin, each con-
taining a piece of mutton and rice. When all were placed, a
lord from Bosnia was introduced, who pretended that the
crown of that country belonged to him, and came in conse-
quence to do homage for it to the Turk, and ask succour from
him against the present king. He w^as conducted to a seat
near the bashaws ; and, when his attendants had made their
appearance, the ambassador from Milan w'as sent for. He
advanced, followed by his presents, which were set down near
the tin dishes. Persons appointed to receive them raised
* The origin of the title of " The Sublime Porte."
-}- Having court fools was a very ancient custom at the eastern courts. It
liad been introduced by the Crusaders at the courts of Christian princes, and
was continued at that of France until the rei^n of Louis XIY.
A.D. 1433.] THE TURKISH COUET. 351
them above their heads, as high as they could, that the prince
and his court might see them. While this was passing, sir
Benedict walked slowly toward the gnllerj. A person of dis-
tinction came to introduce him.
On entering, he made a reverence without taking off the
bonnet from his head, and when near the steps of the couch
he made another very low one. The prince then rose, de-
scended two steps to come nearer to the ambassador, and took
him by the hand. The ambassador wished to kiss his hand,
but he refused it ; and by means of a Jew interpreter, who
understood the Turkish and Italian languages, asked how his
good brother and neighbour the duke of Milan was in health.
The ambassador having replied to this question, he was con-
ducted to a seat near the Bosnian, but walking backwards,
with his face towards the prince, according to the custom of
the country. The prince waited to reseat himself, until the
ambassador had sat down ; then the different officers on
duty who were in the apartment sat down on the floor ; and
the person who had introduced the ambassador went to seek
for us his attendants, and placed us near the Bosnians.
In the meantime a silken napkin was attached to the
prince, and a round piece of thin red leather was placed be-
fore him, for their usage is to eat only from table-coverings of
leather ; then some dressed meat was brought to him in two
gilded dishes. When he was served, his officers went and
took the tin dishes I have spoken of, and distributed them to
the persons in the hall, one dish among four. There was in
each a piece of mutton, and some clear rice, but neither
bread nor any thing to drink. I saw, however, in a corner of
the court a high buffet with shelves, which had some little
plate on them, and at the foot was a large silver vase, in the
shape of a drinking cup, which I perceived many to drink out
of, but whether water or wine I know not. With regard to
the meat on the dishes, some tasted of it, others not ; but, be-
fore all were served, it was necessary to take away, for the
prince had not been inclined to eat. He never takes any
thing in public, and there are very few persons who can boast
of having heard him speak, or of having seen him eat or
drink. On his going away, the musicians, who were placed
in the court near the buffet, began to play. They played on
instruments, and sung songs that celebrated the heroic actions
of Turkish warriors. When those in the gallery heard any
352 BEKTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIEEE. [a.D. 1433.
thing that pleased them, they shouted, after their manner,
most horrid cries. Being ignorant on what they were playing,
I went into the court, and saw they were stringed instruments,
and of a large size. The musicians entered the apartment,
and ate whatever they could find. At length the meat was
taken away, when every one rose up, and the ambassador re-
tired without having said a word respecting his embassy,
which is never customary at a first audience. There is also
another custom, that when an ambassador has been presented
to the prince, this latter, until he shall have given him his
answer, sends him wherewith to pay his daily expenses, and
the sum is two hundred aspers. On the morrow, therefore,
one of the officers of the treasury, the same who had con-
ducted sir Benedict to the court, came to him with the above
sum. Shortly after, the slaves w^ho guarded the gate came
for what is usually given them ; they are, however, satisfied
with a little.
On the third day, the bashaws let the ambassador know,
they were ready to learn from him the subject of his embassy.
He immediately went to the court, and I accompanied him;
but the prince had closed his audience, and was just retired,
and only the three bashaws, with the beguelar or governor of
Greece, were now remaining. When we had passed the gate,
we found these four seated on a piece of wood that hap-
pened to be outside of the gallery. They sent to desire the
ambassador would come forward, and had a carpet placed on
the ground before them, on which they made him seat himself,
like to a criminal before his judge, notwithstanding there
were present great numbers of people. He explained to
them the object of his mission, which was, as I heard, to en-
treat their lord, on the part of the duke of Milan, to consent
to yield up, to the Roman emperor Sigismond, Hungary, Wal-
lachia, Bulgaria, as far as Sophia, Bosnia, and the part of Al-
bania he now possessed, which was dependant on Sclavonia.
They replied they could not at that moment inform the
prince of his request, as he was occupied; but that vdthin
ten days he should have his answer, if they should then have
received it from him. There is likewise another custom;
that from the time when an ambassador is announced as such,
he can never speak with the prince personally. This regula-
tion was made since the grandfather of the present prince
was murdered by an ambassador from Servia. That envoy
A.D. 1433.] THE TUEKISH COURT. 353
had come to solicit from him some alleviation in favour of his
countrymen, whom the prince wanted to reduce to slavery.
In despair at not obtaining his object, he stabbed him, and
was himself massacred the instant after ^.
On the tenth day we went to the court to receive the answer.
The prince was there, as at the first time, seated on his couch ;
but he had with him in the gallery only those that served his
table. I saw neither buffet, minstrels, nor the lord of Bosnia,
nor the Wallachians, but only Magnoly, brother to the duke of
Cephalonia, whose manners to the prince were those of a respect-
ful servant. Even the bashaws were without, and standing at a
distance, as well as the greater part of the persons whom I had
before seen in the interior, but their number was much less-
ened. During the time we were made to wait without, the chief
cadi, with his assessors, administered justice at the outward
gate of the palace, when I saw some foreign Christians come
to plead their cause before him : but, when the prince rose up,
the judges ended their sittings and retired to their homes. I
saw the prince pass with his attendants to the great court,
which I was unable to do the first time. He wore a robe of
cloth of gold and green, somewhat rich, and he seemed to me to
have a hasty step. When he had re-entered his apartments, the
bashaws, seated as on the preceding day on the piece of wood,
* The grandfather of Amurath II. was Bajazet I., who died prisoner to
Tamerlane, either treated with kindness by the conqueror, as some authors
pretend, or confined in an iron cage, according to others. This story of the
Servian cannot, therefore, regard him. But we find in the life of Amurath I.,
father to Bajazet, and, consequently, great-grandfather to Amurath II., a
circumstance that may have been the foundation for this story of the assassi-
nation. This prince had just gained a complete victory over the despot of
Servia, in which he was made prisoner, and was passing over the field of
battle near to a Servian soldier, mortally wounded, who, knowing him,
exerted his remaining strength and poniarded him. According to others, the
despot, named Lazarus, or Eleazer Bulcowitz, finding himself attacked by
Amurath, with an irresistible army, and seeing no other chance of opposing
him but by treason, gains over one of the great lords of his court, who, feign-
ing discontent, passes over to the party of the sultan, and assassinates him,
(Ducange, * Familise Bisant.,' p. 334.) According to another account, Amu-
rath was slain in the combat ; and Lazarus, being made prisoner by the
Turks, was hewed to pieces on the bleeding corpse of their master. It
seems, from the recital of La Brocquiere, that the account of the assassina-
tion by the Servian is the true one. This, at least, appears probable, from
the precautions taken in subsequent times, at the Ottoman Porte, against
foreign ambassadors ; for, when they were introduced to the sultan, they
were held by the sleeves of their coats.
A A
354 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1433.
sent for the ambassador. Their answer was that their master
charged him to salute, in his name, his brother the duke of
Milan ; that he was very desirous of doing much for him, but
that his present request was unreasonable ; that from regard
to him their prince had frequently abstained from pushing his
conquests further in Hungary, which he might easily have
done, and such a sacrifice ought to satisfy him ; that it would
be too hard for him to surrender all he had won by the sword;
and that, in the present circumstances, he and his soldiers had
no other theatre to occupy their courage besides the territo-
ries of the emperor, and that he should be the more unwill-
ing to renounce them, because hitherto he had never met the
emperor's forces without beating them, or putting them to
flight, as was well known to all the world.
The ambassador, in fact, knew this personally, for, in the
last defeat of Sigismond before Couloubath, he had witnessed
his disaster: he had even, the night preceding the battle,
quitted his camp, to wait on the Turk. In our conversations,
he told me many particulars on this subject. I saw also two
Genoese cross-bowmen, who related to me how the emperor
and his army had repassed the Danube in his galleys.
The ambassador, having received his answer from the ba-
shaws, returned to his lodgings ; but he was scarcely arrived,
when he received, on the part of the sultan, five thousand
aspers, with a robe of crimson camocas lined with yellow cali-
manco. Thirty-six aspers are worth a Venetian ducat ; but,
of the five thousand aspers, the treasurer deducted ten per
cent, as fees of ofiice. I saw also, during my stay at Adria-
nople, a present of another sort, made likewise by the sultan
to a bride on her wedding day. This bride was daughter to
the Begler Bey, governor of Greece ; and the daughter of one
of the bashaws, attended by upwards of thirty other women,
had been charged to offer it. Her dress was of crimson
tissue and gold : her face was covered, according to custom,
with a very rich veil ornamented with diamonds. The at-
tendant ladies had magnificent veils, and their dresses w^ere
robes of crimson velvet, and robes of cloth of gold without fur.
They were all on horseback, riding astride like men, and
some of them had superb saddles. In front of the procession
marched thirteen or fourteen horsemen, and two minstrels
also on horseback, as well as other musicians carrying a
trumpet, a very large drum, and about eight pairs of cymbals,
A.D. 1433.] MACEDONIA. 355
which altogether made a most abominable noise. After the
musicians came the present, and then the ladies. Ttiis pre-
sent consisted of seventy broad platters of tin loaded with dif-
ferent sorts of sweetmeats, wet and dry, and of twenty other
platters having on them sheep skinned, painted red and
w^hite, and all had a silver ring suspended from the nose, and
two others in the ears. T had an opportunity of seeing, while
at Adrianople, numbers of Christians chained, who were
brought thither for sale. They begged for alms in the street;
but my heart bleeds when I think of the shocking hardships
they suffer.
We left that town on the 12th of March, under the escort
of a slave whom the sultan had ordered to accompany the
ambassador. This man was of great utility to us on the
road, more especially in regard to lodgings — for, wherever he
demanded any thing for us, it was eagerly and instantly
granted. Our first day's journey was through a beautiful
country ascending the Mariza, which we crossed at a ferry ;
the second, though the roads w^ere good, was employed in
passing through woods. At length we entered Macedonia,
between two mountains opening to an extensive plain, which
may be forty miles wide, and is watered by the Mariza. I
there met fifteen men and ten women chained by the neck,
inhabitants of Bosnia, whom the Turks had just carried off in
an excursion which they had made thither. Two Turks were
leading them for sale to Adrianople.
Shortly after, w^e arrived at Philopopoli, the capital of
Macedonia, and built by king Philip. It is situated in a
plain on the Mariza, in an excellent country, where all sorts
of provision are sold very cheap. It was formerly a consider-
able town, and indeed is so now. Within it are three moun-
tains, two of which are at one of its extremities toward the
southward, and the other in the centre. On this last had
been constructed a large castle, in the form of a crescent, now
destroyed. I was shown the situation of king Philip's palace,
which has been demolished, but the walls still remain. Phi-
lopopoli is inhabited chiefly by Bulgarians, who follow the
Greek ritual.
I crossed the Mariza by a bridge, on leaving Philopopoli,
and rode a whole day over the plain I mentioned : it termi-
nates at a mountain sixteen or twenty miles in length, covered
with wood. This place was in former times infested by
A A 2
356 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1433.
robbers, and very dangerous to pass. The Turk has ordered
that whoever inhabits these parts shall be free : in conse-
quence, two villages have been erected and inhabited by Bul-
garians, in one of which, situated on the confines of Bul-
garia and Macedonia, I passed the night. Having crossed the
mountain, we came to a plain six miles long by two broad —
then to a forest sixteen miles in length — then to another
great plain wholly shut in by mountains, well peopled with
Bulgarians, and having a river running through it.
After three days' journey, 1 came at last to a town named
Sophia, which had been very considerable, as may be judged
from the ruins of its walls, now thrown down ; but it is at
present the best in Bulgaria. It has a small castle, and is
situated near a mountain on the southward, and at the begin-
ning of a great plain sixty miles long by ten wide. The
inhabitants are chiefly Bulgarians, as in the adjacent villages.
The Turks are few in number, which causes the others to feel
the greatest desire to throw off their yoke, if they could find
any to assist them. I saw some Turks return from an excur-
sion to Hungary ; and a Genoese, named Nicolas Ciba, told
me he had also seen those who had crossed the Danube re-
turn, and that there was not one in ten that had both bow
and sword : for my part, of those I saw there were many
more that had neither bow nor sword than those who were
armed with both. The best equipped had a small wooden
target. In truth, we must confess that it is a great shame
for Christendom to suffer itself to be subjugated by such a race,
for they are much below what is thought of them.
On quitting Sophia I traversed fifty miles of the plain I
spoke of. The country is well inhabited by Bulgarians of the
Greek religion. I then passed through a mountainous coun-
try, tolerably good for travelling on horseback, and came to a
little town in a plain on the Nissave, called Pirotte. It is
uninclosed, but has a small castle, defended on one side by
the river, on the other by a marsh : to the north is a moun-
tain. It is inhabited by Turks only. Beyond Pirotte the
country is again mountainous, when, after a circuit, we came
again to the Nissave, which runs through a beautiful valley
between two tolerably high hills. At the foot of one of them
was the town of Ysvouriere, now totally destroyed, even to
the walls. We followed the banks of the river through the
valley, and came to another mountain, difficult to pass, al-
A.D. 1433.] BULGARIA AND SERVIA. 357
though cars and carts do go over it. We then arrived at an
agreeable valley, still watered by the Nissave, which having
crossed by a bridge, we entered Nissa. This town had a
handsome castle that belonged to the despot of Servia. The
Turk took it, five years ago, by storm, and entirely destroyed
it. The situation is in a delightful country, abounding in
rice. I continued to follow the river from Nissa, through a
country equally pleasant, and well filled with villages. I at
last crossed it at a ferry, and saw^ it no more. The mountains
now commenced, and I had a long miry forest to pass, and,
after ten days' journey from Adrianople, arrived at Corse-
bech ^^, a small town situated a mile distant from the Morava.
The Morava is a large river that runs from Bosnia, and di-
vides Bulgaria from La Kascia, or Servia, a province which
indifferently bears ^these two names, and which the Turk
conquered six years ago. Corsebech had a small castle, now
demolished : it has still a double wall, but the other parts, as
far as the battlements, have been thrown down. I found
there Cenasin Bey, captain or commandant of tlais vast fi^on-
tier country, that extends from Wallachia as far as Sclavonia.
He resides part of the year in this town ; and they told me
he was originally a Greek, who did not drink wine like other
Turks ; that he was prudent and brave, and knew how to
make himself feared and obeyed. The Turk has intrusted
him with the government of this country, of which he pos-
sesses the greater part as his own property. He suffers no
one to cross the river, unless they be known to him, or unless
they be bearers of letters from his master, or, in his absence,
from the governor of Greece. We saw there a beautiful
woman, one of the Hungarian nobility, whose situation in-
spired us with pity. An Hungarian renegado, one of the
lowest rank, had carried her of^ in an excursion, and treated
her as his wife. On seeing us, she melted into tears, for she
had not as yet renounced her religion.
On leaving Corsebech, we crossed the Morava by a ferry,
and entered the territory of the despot of Servia, a fine and
well-peopled country. All on this side the river belongs to
him— the district on the other to the Turk; but the despot
pays him an annual tribute of fifty thousand ducats. He pos-
sesses also, on this river, toward the common boundaries of
* Perhaps Kruzcevaz, or Alagia Hisar.
358 BEKTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1433.
Bulgaria, Sclavonia, Albania, and Bosnia, a town called Nyeu-
berge, which has a mine producing gold and silver at the same
time. Each year it pays him more than two hundred thou-
sand ducats, as well-informed people assured me : without
this, he would be soon driven out of his dominions.
I passed on my road near to the castle of Escalache, that
belongs to him. It has been a strong place, on the point of
a hill, at the foot of which the Nissave forms a junction wdth
the Morava. Part of the walls, with a tower in the form of a
dungeon, are all that remain.
At the mouth of these two rivers, the Turk usually keeps
from eighty to a hundred galleys, galliots, and rafts, to convey
over his cavalry and army in time of war. I could not see
them, as no Christian is allowed to approach them ; but a
man, worthy of belief, informed me there was a body of three
hundred men always posted there to guard them, and that
they are relieved every two months. The distance from Es*
calache to the Danube is one hundred miles : nevertheless, in
all this distance, there does not subsist any fort, or place of
defence, but a village, and a house erected by Cenasnin-Bey
on the declivity of a mountain, with a mosque. I followed
the course of the Morava, and with the exception of a very
miry pass, that continues about a mile, caused by a mountain
pressing too close on the river, I had a good road through a
pleasant well-peopled country. It was not the same the
second day, for I had mountains, wood, and much mud to
travel through. The country, notwithstanding, was as fine as
a mountainous country can be. It is full of villages, and all
your wants may be there supplied.
From the time we had entered Macedonia, Bulgaria, and
Servia, I found on our passage that the Turk every where
caused proclamation to be made that whoever was bound to
join the army should hold himself in readiness to march.
They told us that those who, in obedience to this duty, fed a
horse, were exempted from the tax of the comarch ; that such
Christians as were desirous of being excused from serving
pay fifty aspers a head ; and that some are forced to join the
army, but only when it requires reinforcements. I learnt
also, at the court of the despot, that the Turk has divided
the guard and defence of these frontier provinces among
three captains ; one, called Dysem Bey, has the district from
the confines of Wallachia to the Black Sea; Cenasnin Bey
A.D. 1433.] SERVIA. 359
commands from Wallachia to the borders of Bosnia; and
Isaac Bey from these frontiers as far as Sclavonia, that is to
say, all beyond the Morava.
To continue the account of my journey, I shall say that I
came to a town, or rather a country house, called Nicodem.
It is here the despot has fixed his residence because the soil
is good, and there are woods and rivers aboundinh with every
thing needful for the pleasures of the chase and gawking, of
which he is very fond. He was out hawking by the river
side, attended by fifty horse, three of his children, and a
Turk, who had been sent by the sultan to summon him to
send his contingent to the army, under the escort of one of
his sons. Independently of his tribute, this is one of the
conditions imposed upon him. Every time the sultan sends
him his orders, he is obliged to furnish him with eight hun-
dred or a thousand horse, under the command of his second
son. He gave the sultan one of his daughters in marriage ;
nevertheless, there passes not a day that he does not fear
being deprived of his dominions. I have even heard say,
that some wished to inspire the sultan with this idea, but that
he answered, '* I draw more from them now than if they were
my own, for in this case I should be obliged to give them to
one of my slaves, and should not receive any thing." The
troops he is now raising are said to be intended against Al-
bania. Ten thousand have already marched thither, which
was the reason he had so few with him when I saw him at
Lessere ; but this first army had been destroyed*.
The prince of Servia is a tall, handsome man, from fifty-
eight to sixty years old; he has ^ve children, three boys and
two girls f. Of the boys, one is twenty years, another sixteen,
and the third fourteen; and all three, like their father, have
very agreeable countenances. In respect to the girls, one is
married to the sultan, another to the count de Seil ; but as
I have not seen them I cannot describe them. When we
met him hawking, the ambassador and myself took him by
* It was in fact this same year, 1433, that the renowned Scanderbeg
Laving, by a stratagem, regained possession of Albania, of which his ancestors
were the sovereigns, commenced that sagacious war against Amurath, which
covered him with glory, and tarnished the last years of the sultan.
f This prince was named Greorge Brancovitz or Wkovitz. Some account
of him and his family is to be found in Ducange. ('Familise Bisant./
page 336.)
360 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1433.
the hand, which I kissed, for such is the custom. On the
morrow, we went to pay him our respects. He had a toler-
ably numerous court, composed of very handsome men, who
wore the beard and hair long, as they are of the Greek
church. There were in the town a bishop, and a doctor in
theology, on their road to Constantinople, sent as ambassadors
to the emperor, by the holy council of Basil '^.
I had employed two days in going from Corsebech to Nico-
dem, and from Nicodem to Belgrade half a day. There is
nothing but forests, mountains, and valleys to this town, but
the valleys are crowded with villages, in which provision and
good wines are met with.
Belgrade is in Servia, and did belong to the despot; but
four years ago he ceded it to the king of Hungary, for fear
lest he should suffer it to be taken by the Turk, as he had
done Coulumbach. This was a heavy loss to Christendom.
The other would be still greater, because the place is stronger,
and can contain from five to six thousand horse f . Its walls
are washed on one side by a large river that comes from
Bosnia, called the Save ; and on the other it has a castle, near
to which runs the Danube, and into this the Save flows. The
town is built on the point formed by these two rivers. Within
its walls the ground rises; but on the land side it is so flat
that any one may march into the ditch. There is, however,
a village on this side that extends from the Save to the
Danube, and surrounds the town to the distance of a bow-
shot. This village is inhabited by Servians, and on Easter-
day I heard mass there in the Sclavonic tongue. It is
under obedience to the church of Rome, and its ceremonies
are nothing different from ours.
The place is strong from its situation, and by art, having
* This holy council concluded its sittings by citing to its tribunal, and
deposing the pope, whilst the pope commanded it to dissolve itself, and con-
voked another at Ferrara. At Florence he had undertaken to form a
union of the Greek and Latin churches, and with this design had sent the
ambassadors to the emperor. He came actually to Italy, and signed at
Florence that political and simulated union before mentioned.
f The reader may perhaps be surprised that our author, when he speaks
of the. garrison of any strong place, particularizes only cavalry; and that,
when he mentions the contingent sent by the despot to the Turkish army,
he specifies but horse. The reason is, that, when he wrote, Europe paid no
attention but to cavalry; and the infantry, badly armed, formed, and
equipped, was not considered of any consequence.
A.D. 1433.] BELGKADE. 361
ditches en glacis, a double wall, well kept in repair, that
follows exactly the rise and fall of the ground. It has also
five forts, three on the elevated ground I spoke of, and two
on the river, but these last are commanded by the preceding
ones. It has likewise a small harbour, that may hold from
fifteen to twenty galleys, defended by towers constructed at
each extremity. It is shut up by a chain from one tower to
the other, at least so it was told me, for the two shores are so
distant I could not see it. I saw on the Save six galleys and
^ye galliots, near to the weakest of the five forts. In this are
many Servians, but they are not permitted to enter the other
forts. The whole five are well furnished with artillery. I
particularly noticed three cannons of brass -f^ ; two of them were
formed of two pieces, and one of such a size, I never before
saw the like. Its mouth was forty-two inches in diameter,
but it seemed short for its thickness f. The commandant of
the place was Sir Mathico, a knight of Arragon, and he had
for his lieutenant his own brother, styled my lord brother.
The Turk is in possession of the castle of Coulumbach, on
the Danube, two days' journey below Belgrade. He seized it
from the despot, and it is, as they say, a strong place, but
easily attacked with artillery, and all succour may be cut off
from it, which is a great disadvantage. He there keeps a
hundred light galleys having sixteen or eighteen oars on a
side, to pass over to Hungary at his pleasure. The governor
of this place is Cenasnin Bey, before spoken of.
On the Danube, but in Hungary, and opposite to Belgrade,
the despot has a town and castle that were given him by the
emperor |, with several others, that afford him an income of
* From our author thus noticing the brass cannon, it should seem they
were still rare in his time, and looked on as wonders. Louis XI. had a
dozen cast, and gave them the names of the twelve peers of France.
f It was then the fashion to make pieces of artillery of an enormous size.
Mohammed II., at the siege of Constantinople, employed cannon cast on the
spot that threw, as they say, balls of two hundredweight. Monstrelet
speaks of a gun that Louis XI. had cast at Tours, and carried afterwards to
Paris, that flung balls of five hundred pounds. In 1717, prince Eugene,
after his victory over the Turks, found in Belgrade a cannon twenty-five feet
long, that shot balls of one hundred and ten pounds, whose charge was
fifty-two pounds of powder. It was also then customary to make the balls
of marble or stone, worked to fit the mouths of different cannons.
:|: Sigismond, king of Bohemia and Hungary. It is pretended that Sigis-
mond gave them in exchange for Belgrade.
362 BEKTRANDON DE LA BBOCQUIERE. [a.D. 1433.
fifty thousand ducats, on condition of his becoming his liege
man, but he obeys the Turk more than the emperor.
Two days after my arrival at Belgrade I saw twenty-five
men, armed after the manner of the country, enter the town,
whom count Mathico the governor had sent for to remain in
garrison. They told me they were Germans, although they
had Servians and Hungarians so near at hand ; but they said
the Servians were subjects and tributaries to the Turk : of
course they could not trust them; and, as for the Hun-
garians, they were so much afraid of him, that should he
appear they w^ould not dare to defend it, however great its
strength. They were obliged therefore to call in strangers,
and this measure became the more necessary from its being
the only place in the possession of the emperor to enable him
to pass and repass the Danube, in case of need. This con-
versation greatly astonished me, and caused me to make
some reflections on the strange subjection in which the Turk
keeps Macedonia, Bulgaria, the emperor of Constantinople,
the Greeks, the despot of Servia, and his subjects. Such a
dependence appeared to me a lamentable thing for Christen-
dom ; and, as I lived with the Turks, and became acquainted
with their manner of living and fighting, and have frequented
the company of sensible persons who have observed them
narrowly in their great enterprises, I am emboldened to write
something concerning them, according to the best of my
abilities, under correction, however, from those better in-
formed, and to show how it may be possible to reconquer the
territories they have gained possession of, and to beat them
in the field of battle. I shall begin with what regards their
persons, and say they are a tolerably handsome race, with
long beards, but of moderate size and strength. I know well
that it is a common expression to say as strong as a Turk ;
nevertheless, I have seen an infinity of Christians, when
strength was necessary, excel them, and I myself, who am
not of the strongest make, have, when circumstances required
labour, found very many weaker than me.
They are diligent, willingly rise early, and live on little,
being satisfied with bread badly baked, raw flesh dried in the
sun, milk curdled or not, honey, cheese, grapes, fruit, herbs,
and even a handful of flour, with which they make a potage
sufiicient to feed six or eight for a day. Should they have a
horse or camel sick without hopes of recovery, they cut its
A.D. 1433.] CHARACTER OF THE TURKS. 363
throat and eat it. I have witnessed this many and many a
time. They are indifferent where they sleep, and lie on the
ground. Their dress consists of two or three robes of cotton,
thrown one over the other, which fall to* their feet. Over
these again they wear another of felt, in the manner of a
mantle, called a capinat. This, though light, resists rain,
and there are some very fine and handsome. Their boots
come up to the knees, and they have large drawers, some of
crimson velvet, others of silk or fustian and common stuffs.
In war, or when travelling, to avoid being embarrassed by
their robes, they tuck the ends into their drawers, by which
they can move with greater freedom.
Their horses are good, cost little in food, gallop well and
for a long time. They keep them very poor, never feeding
them but at night, and then only giving them five or six
handfuls of barley and double the quantity of chopped straw,
the whole put into a bag which hangs from their ears. At
break of day, they bridle, clean and curry them, but never
allow them to drink before mid-day, then in the afternoon
every time that they find water, and in the evening when
they lodge or encamp ; for they always halt early, and near
a river if possible. This last time they leave them bridled
for an hour like mules, and then, at a fixed moment, each
gives his horse provender. During the night-time, they
cover them with felt or other stuffs, and I have seen such
coverings very handsome ; they have the like also for their
hounds, in which they are curious and have a good breed,
although with long hanging ears and tufted tails, which, how-
ever they carry well. All their horses are geldings ;^ they
keep some others for stallions, but so few, that I have never
seen a single one. They saddle and bridle them a la
genette. Their saddles are commonly very rich, but hollow,
having pummels before and behind, with short stirrup lea-
thers and wide stirrups.
With regard to their accoutrements and dresses for w^ar, I
had twice an opportunity of seeing them, on the occasions of
Greek renegadoes, who, renouncing their own, had embraced
the Mohammedan religion. The Turks celebrate these events
with much festivity. They dress themselves in their best
arms, and traverse the town with as numerous a procession
as possible. On these occasions I have seen them wear very
handsome coats of armour like to ours, except that the links
364 BEKTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1433.
of the mail were smaller; the vambraces were the same. In
one word, they resemble those pictures that represent figures
of the time of Julius Caesar. Their armour descends almost
half way down the •thigh, but a piece of silken stuff is attached
circularly to the bottom of it, that falls down to the calf of
the leg. On their head they wear a round white cap, half a
foot high, terminated in a point. It is ornamented with
plates of iron on all sides, to ward off from the face, neck,
and cheeks, blows of the sword, and is like the helmets in
France, called salades-''. Beside this head-piece, they usually
wear another over it, namely, a bonnet of iron wire. There
are some of these so rich and handsome, that they cost from
forty to fifty ducats, whereas the first are bought for one or
two ; although not so strong as the others, they resist the cut
of a sword. I have spoken of their saddles, in which they
sit as in an arm-chair, deep sunk in them, their knees
very high, and with short stirrups, a position in which they
cannot support the smallest blow from a lance without being
unhorsed. The arms of those who have any fortune are a bow,
a tarquais, a sword, a heavy mace with a short handle, the
thick end of which is cut into many angles. This is a dan-
gerous weapon when struck on the shoulders, or on an
unguarded arm. I am convinced that a blow given with it
on a head armed with a salade would stun a man. Several
have small wooden bucklers, with which they cover them-
selves well on horseback when they draw the bow. I have
been assured of this by those who have long used them, as
well as from having seen it myself.
Their obedience to superiors is boundless. None dare dis-
obey, even when their lives are at hazard ; and it is chiefly
owing to this steady submission that such great exploits have
been performed, and such vast conquests gained, as render
them masters of a more extensive and considerable country
than all Frauce. I have been assured that, whenever the
Christian powers have taken up arms against them, they have
always had timely information of it. In this case the sultan
has their march watched by men assigned to this purpose, and
lie lays wait for them with his army two or three days' march
from the spot where he proposes to fight them. Should he
think the opportunity favourable, he falls suddenly on them ;
* A sort of light casque then in use, which, not having vizor nor throat
piece, had need of projecting plates of iron to guard the face.
A.D. 1433.] MANNERS OF THE TURKS. 365
and for these occasions they have a particular kind of march,
beaten on a large drum. When this signal is given, those
who are to lead march quietly off, followed by the others with
the same silence, without the file ever being interrupted, from
the horses and men being trained to this purpose. Ten
thousand Turks, on such an occasion, will make less noise
than one hundred men in the Christian armies. In their
ordinary marches they only walk, but in these they always
gallop ; and as they are beside lightly armed, they will thus
advance further, from evening to day-break, than in three
other days ; and this is the reason why they cannot wear such
complete armour as the French and Italians. They choose,
also, no horses but such as walk fast, and gallop for a long
time, while we select only those that gallop well and with
ease. It is by these forced marches that they have succeeded
in surprising and completely defeating the Christians in their
different wars. It is thus they conquered Duke John, whose
soul may God pardon^! and, again, the emperor Sigismond,
so recently before Coulumbach, where Sir Advis, a Polish
knight, perished. Their manner of fighting varies according
to circumstances. When they find a favourable opportunity
for it, they divide themselves into different troops, and thus
attack many parts of an army at once. This mode is particu-
larly used when they are among woods or mountains, from the
great facility they have of uniting together again. At other
times they form ambuscades, and send out scouts well mounted
to observe the enemy. If their report be that he is not on his
guard, they instantly form their plan and take advantage of the
circumstance. Should they find the army well drawn up,
they curvet round it within bow-shot, and, while thus prancing,
shoot at the men and horses, and continue this manoeuvre so
long, that they at last throw it into disorder. If the army
* Jolin, count of Nevers, surnamed sans peur, and son to Philippe le
Hardi, duke of Burgundy. Sigismond having formed a league to check the
conquests of Bajazet, Charles VI. sent him a body of troops, in which were
two thousand gentlemen, under the command of the count of Nevers. The
Christian army was defeated at Nicopolis in 1396, and the French slain or
made prisoners. See further particulars in Froissart. When Jean succeeded
his father, as duke of Burgundy, he caused the duke of Orleans, brother to
the king of France, to be assassinated. He was murdered in his turn by
Tannegui du Chatel, an ancient servant of the duke of Orleans. These facts
prove that La Brocquiere was in the right, when speaking of John, to pray
that God would pardon him.
366 BERTEANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1433.
attempt to pursue them, they fly, and disperse each se-
parately, even should only a fourth part of their own number
be ordered against them ; but it is in their flight that they
are formidable, and it has been almost always then that they
have defeated the Christians. Tn flying they have the adroit-
ness to shoot their arrows so very true that they scarcely ever fail
to hit man or horse. Each cavalier has also on the pummel
of his saddle a tabolcan. When the chief, or any of his offi-
cers, perceives the enemy who pursues to be in disorder, he
gives three strokes on this instrument ; the others, on hearing
it, do the same, and they are instantly formed round their
chief like so many hogs round the old one; and then, ac-
cording to circumstances, they either receive the charge of the
assailants, or fall on them by troops, and attack them in dif-
ferent places at the same time. In pitched battles they
employ another stratagem, which consists in throwing fire-
works among the cavalry to frighten the horses. They often
post in their front a great body of dromedaries and camels,
which are bold and vicious ; these they drive before them on
the enemy's line of horse, and throw it into confusion.
Such are the modes of fighting the Turks have hitherto
adopted against the Christians. I would not, most assuredly,
wrong or depreciate them ; for I must own that I have always
found them, in my different connections, frank and loyal, and
when it w^as necessary to show courage they have never failed
to do so ; but I am not the less convinced that it would be no
difficult matter for troops, well mounted and well commanded,
to defeat them : and, in regard to myself, I declare that, with
one-half of their numbers, I should never hesitate to attack
them. Their armies, I know, commonly consist of two
hundred thousand men ; but the greater part are on foot, and
destitute, as I before said, of tarquais, helmets, mallets, or
sword ; few, indeed, being completely armed. They have, be-
sides, among them a great number of Christians, who serve
through force, Greeks, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Albanians,
Sclavonians, Wallachians, Servians, and other subjects of the
despots of that country. All these people detest the Turk,
because he holds them in a severe captivity ; and should they
see the Christians march in force against him, and above all
the French, I have not the smallest doubt but they would
turn against him and do him great mischief.
The Turks are not, therefore, so terribly formidable as I
A.D. 1433.] CHARACTER OF THE TURKS. 367
have heard say. I owii, however, that it will be necessary, if
any attempt be made against them, to have a general well
obeyed by his troops, and who would particularly listen to the
advice of those acquainted with their mode of warfare. This
was the fault, as I am informed, of the emperor Sigismond,
when he was defeated by them at Coulumbach. Had he
attended to the advice given him, he would not have been
forced to raise the siege, since he had from twenty-five to
thirty thousand Hungarians. Did not two hundred Genoese
and Lombardy cross-bows alone check the enemy, overawe
them, and cover his retreat, while he embarked on board the
galleys that he had on the Danube ; while six thousand
Wallachians, under the Polish knight before mentioned,
having separated and posted themselves on a small eminence,
were all cut to pieces ?
I speak nothing here but what I have seen myself, or heard
from undoubted authority; therefore, in case any Christian
prince or general may wish to attempt the conquest of Turkey
in Europe, or even to penetrate further, I think I am able to
give much information on this subject. I shall, however,
speak according to my abilities ; and, should any thing escape
me that may be displeasing to some of my readers, I beg they
will excuse it, and pass it by, as if I had said nothing.
The monarch who should form such a project ought at first
to propose to himself for his object, not glory and renown, but
God, religion, and the salvation of so many souls that are in
the road to perdition. He must be well assured, beforehand,
that the regular payment of his troops is provided for, and
that he carries with him none but such as have a fair reputa-
tion, with a good will for the purpose, and, above all, that
they be not pillagers. With regard to the payment of them,
I think it should depend on the holy father to see that it be
regularly made ; but, until the moment when the army enters
the Turkish territory, there should be made a strict law that
no one take any thing without paying for it. No person likes
to see his property stolen ; and I have heard that those who
have been guilty of such things have not found themselves
the better for it. I, however, refer these things to the prince
and the lords of his council ; I shall confine myself to speak
of the sort of troops I think proper for such an attempt, and
whom, if I had the choice, I should like to accompany.
I would, in the first place, select from France men at arms,
368 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1433.
archers, and cross-bows, in as great numbers as possible and
of the sort mentioned above. Secondly, from England, a
thousand men at arms and ten thousand archers. Thirdly,
from Germany, the greatest number possible of gentlemen,
with their cross-bowmen on horse and foot. Collect together
from fifteen to twenty thousand archers and cross-bows of these
three nations, adding thereto from two to three hundred light ^
troops ; and I will ask from God the grace to march with them,
and engage they shall advance without difficulty from Belgrade
to Constantinople. They will require but light armour, as I
have before observed that the Turkish bow has no great
strength. When near, their archers shoot true and quick;
but they do not shoot nearly so far as we do. Their bows
are thick and short, and their arrows thin and of no length ;
their iron heads are stuck into the wood, which cannot bear a
great blow nor make a deep wound, even on an unarmed
place. From this it will be seen slight armour only is wanted
for the troops, that is to say, light greaves for the legs and
thighs, thin plate armour for the body, with helmets having
light vizor-pieces. A Turkish arrow would perhaps pierce a
light coat of mail, but would be turned aside by plate-armour,
however thin. I shall add that, in case of necessity, our
archers can make use of the arrows of the Turks ; but that
they cannot do the same with ours, because the notch is not
sufficiently wide, and the strings of their bows, being made of
sinews, are too thick.
According to my opinion, our cavalry should be armed with
light, sharp-headed lances, and with strong, well- tempered
swords. It may be also advantageous to have small battle-
axes on the wrist. The infantry should have double-headed
battle-axes, and a long and sharp spear, both having their
hands defended with gauntlets. With regard to this last
article, I own I have seen some in Germany, made of boiled
leather, that I consider as effectual as those of iron.
When the army shall come to an open plain, where a combat
may be fought with advantage, it should be done ; but then
the whole should be formed into one body ; the van and rear
guards should be employed on the wings. The pikemen to
be intermixed in the line, unless it should be preferred to
post them otherwise to skirmish; but the general will be
careful not thus to post the men at arms. In front of the
line, and on the wings, the light troops will be scattered ; and
A.D. 1433.] TURKISH WARFARE. 369
every one must be strictly forbidden, under pain of death, to
pursue the runaways.
It is the policy of the Turks to have their armies twice as
numerous as those of the Christians. This superiority of
numbers augments their courage, and allows them to form
different corps, and to make their attack on various parts at
the same time. Should they once force an opening, they rush
through in incredible crowds, and it is then a miracle if all be
not lost. To prevent this misfortune, the light troops should
be numerously posted on the angles of the line of battle, and,
by this means, keep it compact, so as not to suffer it to be
broken. This manoeuvre seems to me to be the more easily
executed from these light troops not being sufficiently armed
to form a column capable, by its weight, of any great im-
pulsion. The Turkish lances are worth nothing ; their archers
are the best troops they have, and these do not shoot so strong
nor so far as ours do. They have a more numerous cavalry ;
and their horses, though inferior in strength to ours, and in-
capable of bearing such heavy weights, gallop better, and
skirmish for a longer time without losing their wind. This
is an additional reason for the army always keeping in a close
and good order. When this method is constantly followed,
they will be forced to combat disadvantageously, and, conse-
quently, to risk every thing or retreat before the army.
Should this last be the case, the cavalry must be sent in
pursuit; but it must always march in good order, and be ever
ready to fight and receive them well should they turn about.
With such conduct it is no way doubtful but they must always
be defeated ; and if a contrary one be followed they will beat
us, as has ever happened.
I may, perhaps, be told that it would be disgraceful thus to
remain on the defensive when in presence of the enemy ; and
that, living as they do on little, they would starve us, unless
we quitted our intrenchment to fight with them. I shall
answer that it is not customary for them to remain long in
one place ; that to-day they are at this place, to-morrow a day
and a half's march off; they reappear again as suddenly as
they disappeared ; and that, if an army be not continually on
its guard, it will run great risks. The important point is, to
be ever on the watch from the moment they appear in sight,
and ready to mount for the combat. Should there be any
difficult passage on the line of march, as many men at arms
B B
370 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1483.
and archers must be sent thither as the situation will allow
for a comhat, and they must be continually in order of battle
until the whole be passed. No foragers must ever be sent
out, for they would be as so many lost men ; and besides they
would find nothing abroad, for in war-time the Turks trans-
port every thing into towns.
With all these precautions the conquest of Turkey in
Europe would not be a difficult enterprise, provided — I repeat
it — that the army be kept in one body, never divided, and no
detachments ever sent after the enemy. Should I be asked
how I would secure provision, I answer that Turkey and
Servia have navigable rivers, and Bulgaria, Macedonia, and
the Greek provinces are fertile. The army advancing always
thus in a mass, the Turks would be forced to retreat ; and
they must of necessity choose one of two extremities, as I
have before said; either to re-cross into Asia, and abandon
their properties, their wives, and their children, since the
country is, as may be seeu from my description of it, defence-
less, or risk a battle, as they have always done, when they
have passed the Danube. I conclude, therefore, that with
good troops, composed from the three nations I have named,
French, English, and Germans, success would be certain;
and that, if they were sufficiently numerous, well united, and
commanded, they might march to Jerusalem. But I shall
now return to my travels.
I crossed the Danube at Belgrade. It was at this moment
exceedingly swollen, and may have been twelve miles broad.
Never in the memory of man had such a flood been seen.
Being unable to travel to Buda by the direct road, I went to
a village called Pensey. On leaving Pensey, I came to the
most level plain I ever saw, and, after being ferried over a
river, arrived at the town of Beurquerel, which belongs to the
despot of Servia, and where I crossed two other rivers by a
bridge. From Beurquerel I came to Verchet, belonging also
to the despot ; there I crossed the Theis, a wide and deep
river, and at length I arrived at Zegedin, situated upon it.
In the whole length of this road, with the exception of two
small woods inclosed by a rivulet, I did not see a single tree.
The natives use, for firing, straw or reeds, collected from the
banks of rivers, or from their numerous marshes. They eat,
instead of bread, soft cakes ; but they have not much food.
Zegedin is a large country town, of a single street, that seems
A.D. 1433.] HUNGARY. 371
about a league in length. It is in a fertile country, abounding
with all sorts of provision. Many cranes and bustards are
taken here, and I saw the market-place full of them ; but they
dress and eat them in a filthy manner. The Theis abounds
in fish, and I have nowhere seen a river that produces such
large ones. Many wild horses are brought thither for sale,
and their manner of conquering and taming them is curious.
I have been told that, should any one want three or four
thousand, they could be procured within the town ; and they
are so cheap that a very good road horse may be bought for
ten Hungarian florins. The emperor, as I heard, had given
Zegedin to a bishop. I saw this bishop, and he seemed a
man of a broad conscience. The Cordelier friars have a
handsome church in this town, where I heard service ; but it
was performed a little after the Hungarian mode.
From Zegedin I came to Pest, a tolerably good country
town on the Danube, opposite to Buda. The country, from
one town to the other, was good and level, and full of im-
mense herds of horses, that live wild on these plains like
savage animals ; and hence the numbers seen at the markets
of Zegedin. I crossed the Danube at Pest, and entered Buda
seven days after my departure from Belgrade. Buda is the
capital of Hungary, situated on an eminence, and longer than
it is broad. To the east is the Danube, to the west a valley,
to the south a palace, which commands the gate of the town.
It was begun by the present emperor, and, when he shall have
finished it, will be extensive and strong. On this side, but
without the walls, are very handsome hot baths. There are
also others along the banks of the Danube to the eastward ;
but these are not so good as the preceding ones. The town
is governed by Germans, as well in respect to police as com-
merce, and what regards the different professions. Many
Jews live there who speak French well, several of them being
descendants of those driven formerly from France. I found,
also, there a merchant from Arras, called Clays Davion. He
was one of those whom the emperor Sigismond had brought
from France, to establish manufactories in his country.
Clays was a tapestry weaver h^.
* Sigismond, in his travels to France, had visited the manufactories, and
particularly those of Flanders, at that time famous for its tapestries. He
wished to establish similar ones in his capital of Hungary, and for this effect
had engaged different workmen to follow him.
BB 2
372 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE [a.D. 1433.
The environs of Buda are agreeable, and its territory fertile
in all sorts of provision, especially in white wines; but they
are somewhat fiery, which is attributed to the adjacent hot
springs, and to the sulphur they emit. One league from the
town is the body of St. Paul the hermit, which is in a perfect
state of preservation.
I returned to Pest, where I also found six or eight French
families, whom the emperor had sent thither to construct on
the Danube, and opposite to his palace, a large tower. His
intentions were to shut up the river with a chain, extending
from it ; and I should suppose he wanted to imitate what had
been done from the town of Burgundy, that fronts the fort of
L'Ecluse ; but I do not believe it is practicable here, for the
river is too broad. I had the curiosity to visit the tower,
which is about the length of three lances high, and round
about were quantities of hewn stone ; but it had remained
some time in this state, because the masons Avho had begun
the work were dead, and those that had survived them were
said not to have knowledge enough to continue it. Pest is
inhabited by many horse-dealers ; and, whoever may want two
thousand good horses, they can furnish the quantity. They
sell them by stables full, containing ten horses ; and their
price for each stable is two hundred florins. I looked into
several, where two or three horses alone were worth that
price. They come for the most part from the mountains of
Transylvania, which bound Hungary to the eastward. I pur-
chased one that galloped well, as indeed they almost all do.
The country is excellent for breeding them, from the quantity
of grass it produces ; but they have the fault of being a little
headstrong, and particularly difficult to shoe ; so that I have
sometimes seen them obliged to be cast on the ground to be
shod.
The mountains just spoken of contain mines of gold and
salt, each of which pay annually to the king one hundred
Hungarian florins. He had given up that of gold to the lord
of Prussia and to count Mathico, on condition that the first
"would guard the frontier against the Turk, and the second
Belgrade. The queen had reserved to her own use the
revenue from salt. The salt is beautiful. It is cut out of a
rock like freestone, into pieces of about a foot long, squared,
but a little convex on the upper side. Whoever should see
them in a cart would take them for stone. It is afterwards
A D. 1433.] HUNGARY. 373
pounded in a mortar, and turns out tolerably white, but finer
and better than any I have elsewhere tasted.
In my road through Hungary I have frequently met wagons
with six, seven, or eight persons in them, and drawn by
only a single horse ; for it is customary with them, when they
make long journeys, to use only one. The}'^ universally have
the hind wheels higher than the fore wheels. There are some
covered in their country manner, which are very handsome,
and so light that, including w^heels, it seemed that a man
could carry one of them suspended to his neck. As the
country is perfectly smooth and level, there is nothing to
prevent the horse from being always on the trot. It is from
this great evenness of the ground that, when they plough,
they draw furrows of an extraordinary length. Until I came
to Pest I had no servant; but there I treated myself with
one, and took one of those French masons into my service
whom I found at Pest. He was from Brai-sur-Somme.
On my return to Buda I accompanied the Milanese ambas-
sador to pay our compliments to the grand count of Hungary,
a title which answers to that of lieutenant of the emperor.
The grand count received me with much distinction, because,
from my dress, he took me for a Turk ; but, when he learnt I
was a Christian, he was somewhat colder. I was told that he
was a man whose conversation was little to be depended on,
and that no great trust must be placed in his promises. This
is somewhat generally the reproach made of the Hungarians ;
and, for my own part, I own that, after the idea given me of
them by my acquaintance, I should have less confidence in an
Hungarian than in a Turk. The grand count is an old man.
It was he, as I heard, who formerly arrested Sigismond, king
of Bohemia and Hungary, and afterwards emperor, and threw
him into prison, whence he afterwards released him by an
amicable agreement. His son was just married to a beautiful
Hungarian lady. I saw him at a tournament after their
manner, when the combatants were mounted on small horses
and low saddles. They were gallantly dressed, and had strong
and short lances. It was a pleasing spectacle. Whenever
the two champions hit, both perhaps, but certainly one of
them, must be unhorsed ; and it is then seen who has the
firmest seat^^.
* The knights in France were mounted for tournaments or battle on large
strong horses, called '^ palefrois." Their saddles were high-piqued before
374 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 1433.
When they tilt for golden wands, all the horses are of the
same size, all the saddles of the same form; and they are
drawn for hy lot, and the j ousters are taken by pairs. Should
one of two adversaries fall, the victor is obliged to retire, and
is not permitted to tilt again.
I had never quitted the company of the Milanese ambas-
sador until we came to Buda; but he had told me on the
road that we must there separate, that he might continue his
route to Milan. Soon after my return to Buda I called, in
consequence, on Clays Davion, who gave me a letter of recom-
mendation to a merchant of his acquaintance at Vienna. As
I had fully opened myself to him, not thinking it right to
make a secret of my rank, my name, or the country I had
come from, or the honour I had of belonging to my lord duke
of Burgundy, he had inserted all this in his letter, and I pro-
fited from it.
From Buda I came to Thiat, a country town, where the
king is said to be fond of residing ; then to Janiz, in German,
"Jane,"^' a town on the Danube. I afterwards passed by
another town, built on an island in that river, which had been
given by the emperor to one of the dependants of the duke of
Burgundy, whom I believe to be Sir Renier Pot. I also
passed through Brutf, situated on a river that divides the
kingdom of Hungary from the duchy of Austria. The river
runs through a marsh, where a long and narrow causeway has
been constructed. This is an important place ; and I am
convinced that a small body of men could effectually defend
it on the Austrian side.
Two leagues further the ambassador took leave of me, and
followed another road to return to the duke of Milan, his lord.
I took that leading to Vienna, where I arrived after five days'
journey. On my entering the town no one would lodge me,
supposing I was a Turk. At last, by accident, some one
pointed out to me an inn, where I was received. Fortunately
my servant, whom I had hired at Pest, knew the Hungarian
and high German languages. He desired that the merchant
to whom I had a letter might be sent for. On seeking him
and behind, which afforded them the greater means of resisting the shock of
the lance than the small horses and low saddles of the Hungarians ; and this
is the reason our author says that, in the tilts of the Hungarians, it may be
easily seen which knight has the best seat on his horse.
* Jane, perhaps Gfen. f Bruck ]
A.D. ]433.] VIENNA. 375
he came, and not only offered me every service in his power,
but went to inform my lord duke Albert '-i^, cousin-german to
my lord, of my arrival, who instantly despatched to me a pour-
suivant-at-arms, and shortly after Sir Albrech de Potadorf.
Not two hours after my arrival I saw Sir Albrech dismount at
the gate of my inn, and, hearing him ask for me, I thought
myself undone. A little before my departure for the Holy
Land, I, with some others, had arrested him between Flanders
and Brabant, because we thought him a subject of Frederic
of Austria f, who had challenged my lord ; and I now doubted
not but that he was come, in his turn, to arrest me, and
perhaps do worse. He told me, however, that his lord, duke
Albert, having learned that I was attached to the duke of
Burgundy, had sent him to me to offer, on his part, every service
that was in his power ; that he desired me to ask whatever I
might want as boldly from him as from my own lord ; for that
he wished to treat his servants in the same manner as he
would his own. Sir Albrech then spoke for himself. He
presented me with money, and offered me horses or any thing
else. In short, he rendered me good for evil ; although, after
all, I had not done any thing to him but what honour per-
mitted and even obliged me to do.
Two days after duke Albert sent to say he wished to speak
with me ; and Sir Albrech again came to conduct me to him.
I presented myself to him the moment he came from mass,
attended by eight or ten old knights of a respectable appear-
ance. Scarcely had I made my reverence when he took me
by the hand, and would not suffer me to speak to him on my
knees. He asked many questions, particularly about my lord,
which induced me to think he had a great affection for him.
He was of a tolerably good size, brown complexion, good-
humoured, affable, valiant, and generous, and was said to
possess every good quality. Among the persons who accom-
panied him were some lords from Bohemia, whom the Hussites
had expelled from that country because they would not be of
their religion. At the same time a great lord of that country,
called Paanepot, w^as presented to him, who had come with
[several others, on the part of the Hussites, to treat with him
and establish peace. These last proposed to march to the
* Albert II., duke of Austria, emperor after the death of Sigismond.
+ Frederic, duke of Austria, succeeded Albert II. as emperor.
376 BERTEANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [A.D. 1433.
assistance of the king of Poland, against tlie lords of Prussia,
and made, as I heard, great offers to duke Albert, if he would
second them ; but he replied, according to my information,
that, until they submitted themselves to the religion of Jesus
Christ, he would never make truce nor peace with them as
long as he should live. In fact, at this very time, he had
twice beaten them in battle; had conquered from them all
Moravia ; and, by his conduct and valour, had aggrandized
himself at their expense.
On quitting his presence, I was conducted to that of the
duchess, a tall, handsome woman, daughter to the emperor,
and heiress, after him, to the kingdoms of Hungary and
Bohemia and their dependencies. She had just been brought
to bed of a daughter, which had occasioned festivals and
tournaments, that were the more numerously attended be-
cause, hitherto, she had not had any children.
On the morrow the duke sent Sir Albrech to invite me to
dinner, and made me sit at his table with an Hungarian lord
and another, an Austrian. All his attendants are on board
wages, and no one dines with him unless invited by the
master of his household. The table was square ; and the
custom is, for one dish to be brought at a time, and for him
who is nearest to eat of it, which supplies the place of a
taster^. Fish and flesh were served; and, above all, a
quantity of meat, strongly seasoned, but always dish by dish.
After the dinner I was carried to see the dancing in the
apartments of the duchess. She gave me a bonnet of gold
thread and silk, a ring, and a diamond to wear on my head,
according to the fashion of the country. There were present
many nobles of each sex ; and I saw there some very hand-
some women, with the finest heads of hair that can be con-
ceived. When I had remained in these apartments some
time, a gentleman named Payser, who, though but a squire,
was a chamberlain and keeper of the jewels of the duke of
Austria, came, by his orders, to show them to me. I saw the
crown of Bohemia, which has some very fine diamonds, and
the largest ruby I ever saw. It seemed bigger than a full-
sized date ; but it is not clear, and there are some cavities
toward the bottom that show a few black spots. The keeper
* Formerly there was, at the tables of sovereigns, an officer to taste every
dish before it was put on the table. This precaution had originally been
taken against poison.
A.D. 1433.] THE COUET OF AUSTRIA. 377
then carried me to see the wague-honnes *, which the duke of
Austria had constructed to combat the Bohemians. I per-
ceived none that could hold more than twenty men ; but he
assured me there was one that would contain three hundred,
and did not require more than eighteen horses to draw it.
I met at this court the lord de Valse, a gallant knight, and
the greatest baron in Austria after the duke. I saw there,
also, Sir Jacques Trousset, a handsome Swabian knight ; but
there was another, named Le Chant, hereditary cup-bearer to
the emperor, who having lost his brother and many friends at
the battle of Bar, and hearing that I belonged to my lord of
Burgundy, caused me to be watched, to know the day of my
departure, that he might seize me as I was travelling through
Bavaria. Luckily for me, the duke of Austria was informed
of his intentions, and sent him away, making me stay longer
at Vienna than I intended, to w^ait for the departure of the
lord de Valse and Sir Jacques Trousset, that I might accom-
pany them.
During my stay I witnessed three of the tournaments I
mentioned, with small horses and low saddles. One took
place at court, the others in the streets ; but at the last
several were unhorsed so heavily that they were dangerously
wounded.
The duke of Austria made me, in private, offers of money.
I received similar offers from Sir Albert and Sir Robert
Daurestoff, a great lord in Austria, who, the preceding year,
had travelled in disguise through Flanders, and had there
seen my lord duke, and spoke very handsomely of him. In
short, I received very pressing ones from apoursuivant of lower
Brittany, named Toutseul, who, after having served under
the admiral of Spain, was now in the service of the duke of
Austria. This Breton called on me every day to go to mass,
and attended me wherever I wished to go. Persuaded that I
must have expended on my journey all the money I had, a
little before my departure he presented me with the value of
fifty marcs in enamels, and insisted that I should sell them
for my profit ; but, as I equally refused to accept them or to
borrow, he protested that no one should ever know any thing
of it.
* A wague-bonne was a sort of wagon, or moveable tower, used in war.
378 BERTRANDON DE LA BR0CQI3IERE. [a.D. 1433.
Vienna is a tolerably large town, well inclosed with deep
ditches and high walls, inhabited by rich merchants and all
sorts of tradesmen. The Danube washes its wall on the north
side. The surrounding country is pleasant and good ; and it
is a place of amusement and pleasure. The natives are bet-
ter dressed than those of Hungary, although they all wear
coarse doublets, very thick and wide. In war they cover the
doublet with an haubergeon, a gla9on^, a large hat of iron,
and other armour usual in that country. They have many
crennequiniers, for such is the name given in Austria and
Bohemia to those called archers in Hungary. Their bows
are like those of the Turks, but not so good nor so strong ;
and they do not use them so well as they do. The Hunga-
rians pull the string with three fingers, and the Turks with
the thumb and ring.
When I went to take leave of the duke and duchess of
Austria, he recommended me himself to my two travelling
companions, sir Jacques Trousset and the lord de Yalse, who
was setting off for his command on the frontiers of Bohemia.
He repeated his question, as to my wanting money; but I an-
swered, as I had before done to all who had offered me some,
that my lord of Burgundy had so amply supplied me on my de-
parture, that I had a sufficiency for my return to him, but that
I requested he would grant me a safe conduct, which he did.
The Danube, for three days' journey on leaving Vienna,
runs eastward ; from above Buda to the point of Belgrade, it
takes a southerly direction, and then, between Hungary and
Bulgaria, it resumes its easterly course, and falls, as they say,
into the Black Sea at Mont Castre. I left Vienna in com-
pany with the before-mentioned lord of Valse and sir Jacques
Trousset. The first was going to his lady at Lintz, and the
second to his country-seat. After two days' travelling, we
came to St. Polten, where the best knives of the country are
made. Thence to Molke on the Danube, where is the best
manufacture of cross-bows, having besides a very handsome
Carthusian monastery. Thence to Valse, which belongs to the
aforesaid lord. The castle is constructed on an elevated rock,
* Gla^on, or glachon, a kind of defensive armour. The French called
** glaqon," a sort of fine cloth that was doubtless glazed. Grlaqon, in German,
was perhaps a kind of coat-armour made of many folds of quilted cloth, such
as our gambisons. Perhaps it may be only a cuirass.
A.D. 1433.] VIENNA TO MUNICH. 379
that commands the Danube. He himself showed me the
ornaments of the altar of the chapel ; I never before saw any
so rich in embroidery and in pearls. I there also noticed
boats drawn up the Danube by horses.
The morrow of our arrival, a Bavarian gentleman came to
pay his respects to the lord of Valse. Sir Jacques Trouss'et,
informed of his arrival, declared he would hang him on a
thorn in the garden. The lord de Valse hastened to him,
and entreated he would not put such an affront on him in his
own house. " Well," replied sir Jacques, " should he come
elsewhere within my reach, he shall not escape hanging."
The lord de Valse went to the gentleman, and made him a
sign to go away, which he complied with. The cause of this
anger of sir Jacques was, that he himself and the greater
part of his attendants were of the secret company, and that
the gentleman, having been also a member, had misbehaved ^.
From Valse we came to Ens, situated on the river Ems ;
thence to Evresperch, on the same river, and within the do-
main of the bishop of Passau; and then to Lintz, a very
good town, with a castle on the Danube, and not far from the
frontiers of Bohemia. It belongs to the duke of Austria, and
the lord of Valse is governor of it. I saw there madame de
Valse, a very handsome lady from Bohemia, who gaye me a
flattering reception. She presented me with an excellent
trotter for the road, a diamond to put in my hair, after the
Austrian fashion, and a bonnet of pearls ornamented with a
ring and a ruby t. The lord of Valse remaining at Lintz with
his lady, I continued my journey in company with sir Jacques
Trousset, to Erfurt, which belongs to the count de Cham-
bourg. Here Austria ends, and it had taken us six days to
come from Vienna hither. From Erfurt we came to Riet, a
Bavarian town belonging to duke Henry ; then to Prenne on
the river Sceine ; to Bourchaze, a town with a castle on the
same river, where we met the duke; thence to Mouldrof,
where we crossed the Taing. In short, having traversed the
country of duke Louis of Bavaria, without entering any of its
* This relates, probably, to the famous secret tribunal ; and the Bavarian,
whom Trousset wanted to hang, may have been a false brother, who had re-
vealed the secrets of it.
f These bonnets must not be mistaken for such as ours. They were only
wreaths, or circular crowns.
380 BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [A.D. 1433.
towns, we arrived at Munich, the prettiest little town I ever
saw, and which belongs to duke William of Bavaria.
I quitted Bavaria at Lansperch to enter Swabia, and passed
through Mindelheim, that belongs to the duke, through Me-
mingen, an imperial town, and thence to Walporch, one of
Sir Jacques's castles. He did not arrive until three days after
me, because he had some friends to visit in the neighbour-
hood; but he had given orders to his people to treat me as
they would do himself. On his return, we set out for Ravens-
burg, an imperial town, and thence to Martof, and Mors-
bourg, a town of the bishop of Constance seated on the lake
of this name. The lake, in this part, may be about three
Italian miles broad. I crossed it and came to Constance,
where I passed the Rhine, which there first assumes this
name on issuing from the lake.
It was at this town that sir Jacques Trousset left me. This
knight, one of the most amiable and valiant in Germany, had
done me the honour and pleasure of accompanying me so far
from respect to the duke of Austria, and would have escorted
me further had he not been engaged at a tournament ; but he
gave me, in his stead, a poursuivant, whom he charged to
escort me as far as I should wish. This tournament had
been undertaken by the lord de Valse. They loved each
other like brothers, and were to tilt with war lances, bucklers,
and helmets of iron, according to the custom of the country,
thirteen against thirteen, all friends and relations. Sir Jacques
was well furnished with every sort of arms, which he had
shown me himself in his castle of Walporch. I took my
leave of him, and quitted him with much regret.
From Constance I went to Stein, where I crossed the Rhine;
thence to Shaffhousen, a town belonging to the emperor ; to
Waldshutts, to Lauffembourg, to Rhinfeld, all the property of
duke Frederick of Austria; and to Basil, another imperial
town, whither, on account of the council then assembled
there, the emperor had sent duke William of Bavaria, as his
lieutenant.
The duke and duchess were desirous to see me. I assisted
at a session of the council, where he represented the emperor ;
and among the numbers were the lord cardinal of St. Angelo,
legate from the holy father pope Eugenius, seven other car-
dinals, many patriarchs, archbishops and bishops. I met
A.D. 1433.] RETURN TO FRANCE. 381
there several on the part of my lord of Burgundy, among
whom were sir Guillebert de Lannoy, lord of Villerval, his
ambassador, master Jean Germain, and the bishop of Cha-
lons. I had a conversation with the legate, who inquired
much about the countries I had seen, especially Turkey. He
seemed to have the conquest of this last country much at heart,
and recommended me to repeat to my lord of Burgundy certain
particulars that I had told to him relative to such conquest.
At Basil I parted with my poursuivant, who returned to
Austria ; and having travelled through the country of Ferette,
belonging to duke Frederick of Austria, and passed by Mont-
beliart, which is the property of the countess of that name, I
entered Franche Compte, which belongs to my lord duke, and
arrived at Besan9on. I supposed that he was in Flanders,
and consequently travelled on the frontiers of Bar and Lor-
raine to Veson ; but at Villeneuve I learnt that he was on the
frontier of Burgundy, and had caused Mussi I'Eveque to be
besieged. I went then by Auxonne to Dijon, where I found
the lord chancellor of Burgundy, in whose company I went to
pay my respects to the duke. His people were at the siege,
and he himself at the abbey of Poictiers. I appeared in his
presence dressed in the same manner as when I left Damas-
cus, and had the horse led before him which I had purchased
in that town, and which had brought me to France. My lord
received me with much kindness. I presented to him my
horse, my dress, with the Koran, and Life of Mohammed,
written in Latin, which the chaplain to the Venetian consul
at Damascus had given me. He had these books delivered
to master John Germain to examine ; but I have never heard
one word concerning them since that time. This master
John was a doctor of divinity ; he was bishop of Chalons-sur-
Saone, and knight of the Golden Fleece *.
* Jean Grermain, born at Cluni, and consequently a subject to the duke of
Burgundy, had, when a child, pleased the duchess, who sent him to study at
the university of Paris, where he distinguished himself. The duke, whose
favour he afterwards gained, made him, in 1431, chancellor of his order of
the G olden Fleece, and not knight, as La Brocquiere says. The year follow-
ing he was nominated bishop of Nevers ; sent in 1432 ambassador, first to
Rome, and then to the council at Basil, as one of his representatives. In
1436, he was translated from the see of Nevers to that of Chalons-sur-Saone.
What La Brocquiere says of this bishop seems peevish ; but if the reader will
consider, not hearing any thing of the two interesting manuscripts he had
brought from Asia, he had cause for being out of humour. Gfermain, how-
38*2 BEKTKANDON DE LA BROCQUIERE. [a.D. 143B.
If I have said little respecting the country between this
place and Vienna, it has been because it is well known. With
regard to the others I have travelled through, I inform my
readers, that the journey was not undertaken through ostenta-
tion or vanity, but for the guidance and information of such
persons as may have similar desires as I have had to see and
be acquainted with these countries, and in obedience to my
highly redoubted lord the duke of Burgundy, who commanded
me to write these travels. I always carried with me a small
book, in which I wrote down my adventures whenever time
permitted ; and it is from these memorandums that I have
composed the history of my journey. If it be not so well
composed as others could have done it, I must beg my readers
to excuse me.
ever, was employed on them, but he was labouring to refute them. At his
death, in 1461, he left two works in manuscript, copies of which are to be
found in some libraries ; one entitled, " De Conceptione beatae Marise Vir-
ginis, adversus Mahometanos et Infideles, Libri duo :" the other, " Adversus
Alcoranum, Libri quinque."
A JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO JERUSALEM,
AT EASTEB, A.D. 1697,
BY HENRY MAUNDRELL.
TO THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD,
THOMAS, LORD BISHOP OF ROCHESTER.
My Lord,
From a large and constant experience of your lordship's favour, I have all
reason to believe that you will not think it tedious to hear something of my
affairs, though in themselves below your lordship's notice and regard.
It is now more than twelve months since I arrived in this place, during
all which time I have had opportunity enough perfectly to observe and dis-
cover the genius of the factory among whom my lot is fallen ; and upon the
result of all my experience of them I am obliged to give them this just com-
mendation, that they are a society highly meriting that excellent character
which is given of them in England, and which (besides the general vogue)
your lordship has some time received from a most faithful and judicious
hand, the excellent bishop Frampton. As he undoubtedly was the great
improver of the rare temper of this society, so he may well be esteemed best
able to give them their true and deserved character. I need only add, that
Such they still continue as that incomparable instructor left them ; that is,
pious, sober, benevolent, devout in the offices of religion, in conversation in-
nocently cheerful, given to no pleasures but such as are honest and manly,
to no communications but such as the nicest ears need not be offended at,
exhibiting in all their actions those best and truest signs of a Christian spirit,
a sincere and cheerful friendship among themselves, a generous charity toward
others, and a profound reverence for the liturgy and constitution of the Church
of England. It is our first employment, every morning, to solemnize the
daily service of the church, at which I am sure to have always a devout, a
regular, and full congregation. In a word, I can say no more (and less I am
sure I ought not) than this, that in all my experience in the world I have
never known a society of young gentlemen, whether in the city or country,
(I had almost said the University, too,) so well disposed, in all points, as
this.
Your lordship will conclude that, in consequence of all this, my present
station cannot but be very agreeable ; and though, in leaving England, I was
separated from the greatest blessings to me in the world, your lordship's
kindness and that of my friends at Richmond, yet I must own I ha\^e
found here as much recompense as could be made for such a separation.
Among other satisfactions, one great one, which I have had since my
384 HENKY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
arrival, was a voyage to the Holy Land, in company with fourteen others of
our factory. We went by way of the coast ; and, having visited several
places consecrated by the life and death of our blessed Lord, we returned by
way of Damascus. If there be any thing, either in these places which I
have visited, or elsewhere in these countries, touching which I may be
capable of giving your lordship any satisfaction by my poor observations, I
should esteem it my great happiness, and my coming thus far would seem
completely recompensed.
I entreat your lordship's blessing, as being your lordship's most dutiful,
humble servant,
Henry Maundrell.
AUp'po.
There being several gentlemen of our nation (fourteen in
number) determined for a visit to the Holy Land at the
approaching Easter, I resolved, though but newly come to
Aleppo, to make one in the same design, considering that, as
it was my purpose to undertake this pilgrimage some time or
other before my return to England, so I could never do it
either with less prejudice to my cure ^, or with greater plea-
sure to myself, than at this juncture, having so large a part
of my congregation abroad at the same time, and in my
company.
Pursuant to this resolution, we set out from Aleppo,
Friday, February J2 6th, 1696 (i. e. Feb. 1697), at three in the
afternoon, intending to make only a short step that evening,
in order to prove how well we were provided with necessaries
for our journey. Our quarters, this first night, we took up at
the Honey-khan, a place of but indifferent accommodation,
about one hour and a half west of Aleppo.
It must here be noted that, in travelling this country, a
man does not meet with a market-town and inns every night,
as in England. The best reception you can find here is
either under your own tent, if the season permit ; or else in
certain public lodgments, founded in charity for the use
of travellers. These are called by the Turks khani; and
are seated sometimes in the towns and villages, sometimes at
convenient distances upon the open road. They are built in
fashion of a cloister, encompassing a court of thirty or forty
yards square, more or less, according to the measure of the
* Maundrell was chaplain to the English factory at Aleppo. See the
Introduction.
A.D. 1697.] KEFTEEN. 385
founder's ability or charity. At these places all comers are
free to take shelter, paying only a small fee to the khan-
keeper (khanji), and very often without that acknowledg-
ment ; but must expect nothing here but bare walls. As for
other accommodations of meat, drink, bed, fire, provender,
with these it must be every one's care to furnish himself.
Feb. 27. — From the Honey-khan we parted very early the
next morning, and, proceeding westerly as the day before,
arrived in one hour and a half at Oo-rem (Ur-im), an old
village affording nothing remarkable but the ruins of a small
church. From Oo-rem we came, in half an hour, to Kaffre ;
and in three quarters more to Essoyn (Es-ain). At this last
place we entered into the plains of Kefteen (Kaftin), pro-
ceeding in which, we came, in one hour, to another village
called Legene ; and in half an hour more, to Hozano ; and in
a good hour more, to Kefteen. Our whole stage this day was
about five hours ; our course a little southerly of the west.
The plains of Kefteen are of a vast compass, extending to
the southward beyond the reach of the eye, and in most places
very fruitful and well cultivated. At our first descent into
them, at Essoyn, we counted twenty-four villages, or places at
a distance resembling villages, within our view from one
station. The soil is of a reddish colour, very loose and
hollow, and you see hardly a stone in it ; whereas, on its
west side, there runs along, for many miles together, a high
ridge of hills, discovering nothing but vast naked rocks, with-
out the least sign of mould or any useful production, which
yields an appearance as if nature had, as it were, in kindness
to the husbandman, purged the whole plain of these stones,
and piled them all up together in that one mountain. Kefteen
itself is a large, plentiful village, on the west side of the
plain; and the adjacent villages, abounding with corn, give
the inhabitants great advantages for breeding pigeons, inso-
much that you find here more dove-cots than other houses.
We saw at this place, over the door of a bagnio, a marble
stone, carved with the sign of the cross, and the Ao|a narp),
&c., with a date not legible. It was probably the portal of
some church in ancient times; for I was assured by the in-
habitants of the village that there are many ruins of churches
and convents still to be seen in the neighbouring rocky
mountains,
Sunday, Feb. 28. — Having a long stage to go this day, we
c c
386 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a D. 1697.
left Kefteen very early ; and continuing still in the same
fruitful plain, abounding in corn, olives, and vines, we came
in three quarters of an hour to Harbanoose ('Arbanus), a small
village situated at the extremity of the plain, where, after
crossing a small ascent, we came into a very rich valley called
Rooge. It runs to the south farther than one can discern;
but in breadth, from east to w^est, it extends not above an
hour's riding, and is walled in (as it were) on both sides, with
high, rocky mountains. Having travelled in this valley near
four hours, we came to a large water called the lake (or rather,
according to the oriental style, the sea) of. Rooge. Through
the skirt of this lake we were obliged to pass, and found it no
small trouble to get our horses, and much more our loaded
mules, through the water and mire ; but all the sea was so
dried up, and the road so perfectly amended at our return,
that we could not then discern so much as where the place
was which had given us so great trouble. From this lake we
arrived, in one hour, at Te-ne-ree, a place where we paid our
first caphar.
These caphars are certain duties which travellers are
obliged to pay, at several passes upon the road, to officers,
who attend in their appointed stations to receive them.
They were at first levied by Christians, to yield a recompense
to the country for maintaining the ways in good repair, and
scouring them from Arabs and robbers. The Turks keep up
so gainful an usage still, pretending the same causes for it ;
but, under that pretence, they take occasion to exact from
passengers, especially Franks, arbitrary and unreasonable
sums, and, instead of being a safeguard, prove the greatest
rogues and robbers themselves.
At a long hour beyond this caphar our road led us over the
mountains on the west side of the valley of Rooge. We were
near an hour in crossing them, after which we descended into
another valley, running parallel to the former, and parted
from it only by the last ridge of hills. At the first descent
into this valley is a village called Bell-Maez *, from which we
came, in two hours, to Shoggle (Jisr Shogher). Our course
was, for the most part of this day, west-south-west. Our
stage, in all, ten hours.
* Bell-Maez, ^' I don't know," probably an answer to Maundrell's question,
" What is the name of that village r' and not the name itself.
A.D. 1697.] SHOGGLE. 387
Shoggle is a pretty large, but exceedingly filthy town,
situated on the river Orontes, over which you pass by a
bridge of thirteen small arches to come at the town. The
river hereabouts is of a good breadth ; and yet so rapid that it
turns great wheels, made for lifting up the water, by its
natural swiftness, without any force added to it by confining
its stream. Its waters are turbid and very unwholesome, and
its fish worse, as we found by experience, there being no per-
son of all our company, that had eaten of them over night,
but found himself much indisposed the next morning. We
lodged here in a very handsome khan, far exceeding what is
usually seen in this sort of buildings. It was founded by the
second Kuper-li, and endowed with a competent revenue for
supplying every traveller that takes up his quarters in it with
a competent portion of bread, and broth, and tlesh, which is
always ready for those that demand it, as very few people
of the country fail to do. There is annexed to the khan, on
the west side, another quadrangle, containing apartments for
a certain number of alms-men, the charitable donation of the
same Kuper-li. The khan we found, at our arrival, crowded
with a great number of Turkish hadgees, or pilgrims, bound
for Mecca ; but, nevertheless, we met with a peaceable recep-
tion amongst them, though our faces were set to a different
place.
March I. — From Shoggle our road led us at first westerly,
in order to our crossing the mountain on that side the valley.
We arrived at the foot of the ascent in half an hour ; but met
with such rugged and foul ways in the mountains, that it took
us upwards of two hours to get clear of them, after which we de-
scended into a third valley, resembling the other two which we
had passed before. At the first entrance into it is a village called
Be-da-me, giving the same name also to the valley. Having
travelled about two hours in this valley, we entered into a
woody, mountainous country, which ends the pashalick of
Aleppo and begins that of Tripoli. Our road here was very
rocky and uneven ; but yet the variety which it afforded made
some amends for that inconvenience. Sometimes it led us
under the cool shade of thick trees ; sometimes through
narrow valleys, watered with fresh, murmuring torrents ; and
then, for a good while together, upon the brink of a precipice ;
and in all places it treated us with the prospect of plants and
flowers of divers kinds, as myrtles, oleanders, cyclamens,
c c^2
388 HENRT MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
anemones, tulips, marygolds, and several other sorts of
aromatic herbs. Having spent about two hours in this
manner, we descended into a low valley, at the bottom of
which is a fissure into the earth of a great depth, but withal
so narrow that it is not discernible to the eye till you arrive
just upon it, though to the ear a notice of it is given at a
great distance, by reason of the noise of a stream running
down into it from the hills. We could not guess it to be less
than thirty yards deep ; but it is so narrow that a small arch,
not four yards over, lands you on its other side. They call it
the Sheikh's Wife, a name given it from a woman of that
quality, who fell into it, and, I need not add, perished. The
depth of the channel and the noise of the water are so extra-
ordinary, that one cannot pass over it without something of
horror. The sides of this fissure are firm and solid rock, per-
pendicular and smooth, only seeming to lie in a wavy form all
down, as it were to comply with the motion of the water, from
which observation we were led to conjecture that the stream,
by a long and perpetual current, had, as it were, sawn its own
channel down into this unusual deepness, to which effect the
water being penned up in so narrow a passage, and its hurling
down stones along with it by its rapidity, may have not a
little contributed*.
From hence, continuing our course through a road resem-
bling that before described, we arrived, in one hour, at a
small, even piece of ground, called Hadjar-il-Sultan, or the
Sultan's Stone ; and here we took up our quarters this night,
under our tents. Our road, this day, pointed for the most
part south-west; and the whole of our stage was about seven
hours and a half.
March 2. — We were glad to part very early this morning
from our campagnia lodging, the weather being yet too moist
and cold for such discipline. Continuing our journey through
woods and mountains, as the day before, we arrived, in about
one hour, at the caphar of Crusia (Krusiyeh), which is de-
manded near a khan of that name. A khan they call it,
though it is, in truth, nothing else but a cold, comfortless
ruin, on the top of a hill by the way-side.
From hence, in about another hour, we arrived at the foot
* Mr. Ainsworth informs me that he verified the account given of this
fissure by personal examination, and found it to be perfectly correct in its
descriptive details.
A.D. 1697.] CHURCH AT BELLULCA. 389
of a mountain called Occaby (Akabi), or, as the word denotes,
Difficult ; and indeed we found its ascent fully answerable to
its name. The moisture and slipperiness of the way at this
time, added to the steepness of it, greatly increased our labour
in ascending it, insomuch that w^e were a full hour in gaining
the top of the hill. Here we found no more woods or hills ;
but a fine country, well cultivated and planted with silk gar-
dens, through which, leaving on the right hand a village
called Citte Galle, inhabited solely by Maronites, we came in
one hour to Bellulca. Here we repaired to a place which is
both the khan of the village and the aga's house; and re-
solving, by reason of the rains, which fell very plentifully, to
make this our lodging, we went to visit the aga, with a small
present in our hands, in order to procure ourselves a civil
reception. But we found little recompense from his Turkish
gratitude ; for, after all our respect to him, it was not without
much importunity that we obtained permission to have the
use of a dry part of the house, the place where we were at
first lodged lying open to the wind and the beating in of the
rain. Our whole stage, this day, was not much above four
hours ; our course about south-west.
Being informed that there were several Christian inhabit-
ants in this place, we went to visit their church, which we
found so poor and pitiful a structure, that here Christianity
seemed to be brought to its humblest state, and Christ to be
laid again in a manger. It was only a room of about four or
five yards square, walled with dirt, having nothing but the
uneven ground for its pavement; and for its ceiling, only
some rude staves laid across it, and covered with bushes to
keep out the weather. On the east side was an altar, built of
the same materials with the wall ; only it was paved at the
top ^dth potsherds and slates, to give it the face of a table.
In the middle of the altar stood a small cross, composed
of two laths nailed together in the middle, on each side of
which ensign were fastened to the wall two or three old
prints, representing our blessed Lord and the blessed Virgin,
&c., the venerable presents of some itinerant friars that had
passed this way. On the south side was a piece of plank
supported by a post, which we understood was the reading
desk, just by which was a little hole commodiously broke
through the wall to give light to the reader. A very mean
habitation this for the God of heaven ! but yet held in great
esteem and reverence by the poor people, who not only come
390 HENKY MAUNDEELL. [a.D. 1697.
with all devotion hither themselves, but also deposit here
whatever is most valuable to them, in order to derive upon it
a blessing. When we were there, the whole room was hung
about with bags of silkworms' eggs, to the end that, by
remaining in so holy a place, they might attract a benediction,
and a virtue of increasing.
March 3. — The next morning flattered us with the hopes of
a fair day, after the great rains which had fallen for near eight
hours together. We therefore ventured to leave Bellulca,
with no great thanks to it for our entertainment. But we
had not gone far, before we began to wish that we had kept
our former accommodation, bad as it was, for the rains began
to break out afresh with greater fury than before ; nor had we
more comfort under foot, the road being very deep and full of
sloughs. However, we resolved to go forward, in hopes of a
better time, and in four hours (very long ones in such un-
comfortable circumstances) we arrived at Sholfatia, a poor
village situate upon a small river which we were obliged to
pass. A river we might call it now, it being swollen so high
by the late rains that it was impassable, though at other times
it be but a small brook, and in the summer perfectly dry.
Here, instead of mending our condition, as we expected,
we began to drink more deeply of the bitter cup of pilgrims,
being brought to such a strait that we knew not which way to
turn ourselves. For (as I said) the stream was not fordable,
so that there was no going forward ; and, as for facing about
and returning to the place from whence we came, that was a
thing we were very averse to, well knowing, by that morning s
experience, the badness of the road, and likewise having
reason to expect but a cold welcome at our journey's end.
As for lodging in the village, that was a thing not to be
endured ; for the houses were all filled with dirt and nasti-
ness, being inhabited promiscuously by the villagers and their
cattle. As for lying in the campagnia, the rain was so vehe-
ment, we could not do that without an evident danger both to
ourselves and horses.
But whilst we were at this nonplus, not knowing which
course to take, the rain abated, and so we resolved to pitch
in the open field, though thoroughly soaked with the wet,
esteeming this however the least evil. Accordingly, we be-
took ourselves to a small ascent by the water-side, intending
there, under our tents, to wait the falling of the stream.
We had not enjoyed this cessation of rain long, when
A.D. 1697.] INCONVENIENCES OF TRAVELLING. 391
it began to pour down afresh, with terrible lightning and
thunder. And now our care was renewed, and we knew not
well which to be most concerned for; whether ourselves, who
enjoyed the miserable comfort of a dropping tent over us, or
for our servants and horses, which had nothing but their own
clothes to protect them. At last, there being a small Sheikh's
house, or burying- place hard by, we comforted ourselves with
hopes that we might take sanctuary there. The only diffi-
culty was how to get admission into so reverenced a place,
the Turks being generally men of greater zeal than mercy.
To negotiate this affair, we sent a Turk (whom we had taken
with us for such occasions) into the village, ordering him to
try first by fair means to gain admittance, and, if that failed,
to threaten that we would enter by force. But the religion
of this place was of that kind which supersedes instead of
improving humanity. The people absolutely denied us the
small charity we demanded, and sent us word they would
die upon our swords before they would yield to have their
faith defiled ; adding, farther, that it was their faith to be true
to Hamet and Aly, but to hate and renounce Omar and Abu
Beker, and that this principle they were resolved to stand by.
We told them we had as bad an opinion of Omar and Abu
Beker as they could have; that we desired only a little
shelter from the present rain, and had no intention to defile
their faith. And thus, with good words, we brought them to
consent that we might secure our baggage in the Sheikh's
house ; but, as for ourselves and arms, it was our irreversible
sentence to be excluded out of hallowed walls. We were
glad, however, to get the merciless doors open upon any
terms, not doubting but we should be able to make our ad-
vantage of it afterwards, according to our desire, which we
actually did ; for when it grew dark, and the villagers were
gone to sleep, we all got into the places of refuge, and there
passed a melancholy night among the tombs ; thus escaping,
however, the greater evil of the rain, which fell all night in
great abundance.
Being now crept into the inside of the Sheikh's house, I must
not omit, in requital for our lodgings, to give some account of
the nature of such structures. They are stone fabrics, gene-
rally six or eight yards square (more or less), and roofed with
a cupola, erected over the graves of some eminent Sheikhs ;
that is, such persons, as by their long beards, prayers of the
same standard, and a kind of Pharisaical superciliousness
392 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
(which are the great virtues of the Mohammedan religion), have
purchased to themselves the reputation of learning and saints.
Of these buildings there are many scattered up and down
the country (for you will find among the Turks far more dead
saints than living ones). They are situated commonly, though
not always, upon the most eminent and conspicuous ascents.
To these oratories the people repair with their vows and
prayers, in their several distresses, much after the same
manner as the Romanists do to the shrines of their saints.
Only in this respect the practice of the Turks seems to be
more orthodox, in regard that though they make their saint's
shrine the house of prayer, yet they always make God alone,
and not the saint, the object of their addresses.
March 4. — To revive us after the heaviness of the last
night, we had the consolation to be informed this morning,
that the river was fordable at a place a little farther down
the stream ; and, upon experiment, we found it true as was
reported. Glad of this discovery, we made the best despatch
we could to get clear of this inhospitable place, and, according
to our desires, soon arrived with all our baggage on the other
side of the river.
From hence, ascending gently for about half an hour, we
came to the foot of a very steep hill, which, when we had
reached, its top presented us with the first prospect of the
ocean. We had in view, likewise, at about two hours' distance
to the westward, the city Latichea (Latakiyah), situate on a
flat fruitful ground close by the sea; a city first built by
Seleucus Nicator, and by him called in honour of his mother,
Aao^ly.sicc, which name it retains, with a very little corruption
of it, to this day. It was anciently a place of great magnifi-
cence, but in the general calamity which befell this country it
was reduced to a very low condition, and so remained for a
long time. But of late years it has been encouraged to hold
up its head again, and is rebuilt, and become one of the most
flourishing places upon the coast, being cherished and put in
a way of trade by Kaplan Aga, a man of great wealth and
authority in these parts, and much addicted to merchandise.
From the hill which we last ascended, we had a small
descent into a spacious plain, along which we travelled south-
ward, keeping the sea on the right hand, and a ridge of
mountains on the left. Having gone about one hour and a
half in this plain, we discerned on the left hand, not far from
the road, two ancient tombs. They were chests of stone, each
A.D. 1697.] JEBILEE. 393
two yards and a half long. Their cavities were covered over
with large tables of stone, that had been lifted aside probably
in hopes of treasure. The chests were carved on the outside
with ox-heads, and wreaths hanging between them, after the
manner of adorning heathen altars. They had likewise, at
first, inscriptions graven on them ; but these were so eaten
out, that one could not discover so much as the species of
the characters. Here were also several foundations of build-
ings ; but whether there were ever any place of note situated
hereabouts, or what it might be, I cannot resolve.
Above an hour from these tombs we came to another
stream, which stopped our march again. These mountain
rivers are ordinarily very inconsiderable, but they are apt to
swell upon sudden rains, to the destruction of many a pas-
senger, who will be so hardy as to venture unadvisedly over
them. We took a more successful care at this place; for,
marching about an hour higher up by the side of the stream,
we found a place where the waters by dilating were become
shallower, and there we got a safe passage to the other side.
From hence we bent our course to recover our former road
again; but we had not got far before there began a very
violent storm of hail, followed by a hard and continued rain,
which forced us to make the best of our way to Jebilee, leaving
our baggage to follow us at leisure.
Our whole stage this day was about six hours, pointing for
the first hour west, and for the remaining part near south,
having the sea on the right hand, and a ridge of mountains
at about two hours' distance on the left. And in this state
our road continued for several days after, without any
difference, save only that the mountains at some places ap-
proach nearer the sea, at other, retire farther off. These
mountains go under different names in several places, as they
run along upon the coast, and are inhabited by rude people of
several denominations. In that part of them above Jebilee,
there dwell a people, called by the Turks Neceres*, of a
very strange and singular character; for it is their principle to
adhere to no certain religion, but, chameleon-like, they put on
the colour of religion whatever it be, which is reflected upon
them from the persons with whom they happen to converse.
With Christians they profess themselves Christians; with
Turks they are good Mussulmans; with Jews they pass for
* The Nosairi, or Ansarians.
394 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
Jews ; being such Proteuses in religion, that nobody was ever
able to discover what shape or standard their consciences are
really of. All that is certain concerning them is, that they
make very much and good wine, and are great drinkers.
March 5. — This whole day we spent at Jebilee, to recruit
ourselves after our late fatigues ; having the convenience of a
new khan to lodge in, built at the north entrance into the
city, by Ustan, the present pasha of Tripoli.
Jebilee is seated close by the sea, having a vast and very
fruitful plain stretching round about it, on its other sides. It
makes a very mean figure at present ; though it still retains
the distinction of a city, and discovers evident footsteps of a
better condition in former times. Its ancient name, from
which also it derives its present, was Gabala, under which
name it occurs in Strabo, and other old geographers. In the
time of the Greek emperors, it was dignified with a bishop's
see, in which sometimes sat Severian the grand adversary and
arch-conspirator against St. Chrysostom.
The most remarkable things that appear here at this day
are a mosque, and an almshouse just by it, both built by sul-
tan Ibrahim. In the former his body is deposited, and we
were admitted to see his tomb, though held by the Turks in
great veneration. We found it only a great wooden chest,
erected over his grave, and covered with a carpet of painted
calico, extending on all sides down to the ground. It was
also tricked up with a great many long ropes of wooden beads
hanging upon it, and somewhat resembling the furniture of a
button-maker s shop. This is the usual way the Turks adorn
the tombs of their holy men, as I have seen in several other
instances ; the long strings of beads passing in this country
for marks of great devotion and gravity. In this mosque we
saw several large incense pots, candlesticks for altars, and
other church furniture, being the spoils of Christian churches
at the taking of Cyprus. Close by the mosque is a very beau-
tiful bagnio, and a small grove of orange-trees, under the
shade of which travellers are wont to pitch their tents in the
summer-time.
The Turks that were our conductors into the mosque, en-
tertained us with a long story of this sultan Ibrahim who lies
there interred ; especially touching his mortification, and re-
nouncing the world. They reported that, having divested
himself of his royalty, he retired hither, and lived twenty
years in a grotto by the sea-side, dedicating himself wholly to
A.D. 1697.] JEBILEE. 395
poverty and devotion ; and, in order to confirm the truth of
their relation, they pretended to carry us to the very cell
where he abode. Being come to the place, we found there a
multitude of sepulchres hewn into the rocks by the sea-side,
according to the ancient manner of burying in this country.
And amongst these they showed one, which they averred to be
the very place in which the devout sultan exercised his twenty
years' discipline ; and, to add a little probability to the story,
they showed, at a small distance, another grotto twice as large
as any of its fellows, and uncovered at the top, which had
three niches or praying places hewn in its south side. This
they would have to be sultan Ibrahim's oratory ; it being the
manner of the Turks always to make such niches in their
mosques and other places of devotion, to denote the southern
quarter of the world; for tJat way the Musselmans are
obliged to set their faces when they pray, in reverence to the
tomb of their prophet. These niches are always formed ex-
actly resembling those usually made for statues, both in their
size, fabric, and every circumstance. I have sometimes re-
flected for what reason the Turks should appoint such marks
to direct their faces toward in prayer. And if I may be al-
lowed to conjecture, I believe they did it at first in testimony
of their iconoclastic principle, and to express to them both
the reality of the divine presence there, and at the same time
also its invisibility. The relators of this story of sultan
Ibrahim were doubtless fully persuaded of the truth of it them-
selves. But we could not tell what conjectures to make of it,
having never met with any account of such a sultan, but only
from this rude tradition.
From these Mahomedan sanctuaries, our guide pretended
to carry us to a Christian church, about two furlongs out of
the town on the south side. When we came to it, we found it
nothing but a small grotto in a rock, by the sea-shore, open
on the side towards the sea ; and having a rude pile of stones
erected in it for an altar. In our return from this poor
chapel, we met with the person who was the curate of it. He
told us that himself and some few other Christians of the
Greek communion were wont to assemble in this humble
cell for divine service, not being permitted to have any place
of worship within the town.
Jebilee seems to have had anciently some convenience for
shipping. There is still to be seen a ridge composed of huge
square stones running a little way into the sea, which appears
396 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
to have been formerly continued farther on, and to have made
a mole. Near this place we saw a great many pillars of gra-
nite, some by the water-side, others tumbled into the water.
There were others in a garden close by, together with capitals
of white marble finely carved, which testify in some measure
the ancient splendour of this city.
But the most considerable antiquity in Jebilee, and the
greatest monument of its former eminence, is the remains
of a noble theatre just at the north gate of the city. It
passes amongst the Turks for an old castle, which (accord-
ing to the Asiatic way of enlarging) they report to have been
of so prodigious a height, when in its perfect state, that a
horseman might have rode, about sun-rising, a full hour in
the shade of it.
As for what remains of this mighty Babel, it is no more
than twenty feet high. The flat side of it has been blown up
with gunpowder by the Turks. And from hence (as they re-
lated) was taken a great quantity of marble, which we saw
used in adorning their bagnio and mosque before mentioned.
All of it that is now standing is the semicircle. It extends
from corner to corner just a hundred yards. In this semi-
circular part is a range of seventeen round windows just above
the ground, and between the windows all round were raised,
on high pedestals, large massy pillars, standing as buttresses
against the wall, both for the strength and ornament of the
fabric; but these supporters are at present most of them
broken down.
Within is a very large arena ; but the just measure of it
could not be taken, by reason of the houses with which the
Turks have almost filled it up. On the west side the seats of
the spectators remain still entire, as likewise do the caves or
vaults which run under the subsellia all round the theatre.
The outward wall is three yards three quarters thick, and
built of very large and firm stones, which great strength has
preserved it thus long from the jaws of time, and from that
general ruin which the Turks bring with them into most
places where they come.
March 6. — Having done with Jebilee, we put forward again
early the next morning, with a prospect of much better wea-
ther than we had been attended with in our former motions.
Our road continued by the sea-side, and in about two hours
brought us to a fair deep river, called by the Turks Nahr-il-
Melech, or the King's River. Here we saw some heaps of
A,D. 1697.] BANEAS — MERCHAH. 397
ruins on both sides of the river, with several pillars of gra-
nite, and other footsteps of some considerable buildings.
About half an hour farther we passed another river called
Jobar, showing the remains of a stone bridge over it, once
well built, but now broken down. On the other side of this
river, in a large ploughed field, stood a great square tower,
and around about, the rubbish of many other buildings. Like-
wise, all along this day's journey, we observed many ruins of
castles and houses, which testify that this country, however it
be neglected at present, was once in the hands of a people
that knew how to value it, and thought it worth defending.
Strabo calls this whole region, from Jebilee as far as Aradus,
the country of the Aradii (of whom in due place), and gives us
the names of several places situate anciently along this coast,
as Paltus, Balanea, Caranus, Enydra, Marathus, Ximyra. But
whether the ruins which we saw this day, may be the remains
of any of those cities, cannot well be determined at this dis-
tance of time, seeing all we have of those places is only their
names, without any sufficient distinctions by which to discover
their situation. The Balanea of Strabo is indeed said to be
still extant, being supposed to be the same place that the
Turks (little changing its name) call at this day Baneas. This
place is four good hours beyond Jebilee. It stands upon a
small declivity, about a furlong distant from the sea, and has
a fine clear stream running swiftly by it on the south side.
It is at present uninhabited, but its situation proves it to have
been anciently a pleasant, its ruins a well-built, and its bay
before it, an advantageous, habitation. At this place was re-
quired another caphar.
Leaving Baneas, we went on by the sea-side, and in about
a quarter of an hour passed by an old castle, on the top of a
very high mountain. It is built in the figure of an equila-
teral triangle, having one of its angles pointing towards the
sea. The Turks call it Merchah ^, and enlarge much upon
the sieges it has sustained in former times ; but, whatever
force it may have had anciently, it is at present only a resi-
dence for poor country people. This is probably the same
castle mentioned by Adrichomius and others under the name
of Margath, to which the bishops of Balanea were forced to
translate their see, by reason of the insults of the Saracens.
* Markah, the ancient Marathus.
398 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
At about one hour and a half distance from Baneas, we
came to a small clear stream, which induced us to take up
our lodging near it. We pitched in the campagiiia about two
or three furlongs up from the sea, having in sight on the
mountains above us a village called Sophia, inhabited solely
by Maronites ; * and a little farther Besack, another village
possessed by Turks only ; and a little farther Merakia, whose
inhabitants are a miscellany of Christians and Turks together.
Our whole stage, this day, was about six hours.
Sunday, March 7. — From this quarter we removed early
the next morning, and in three hours came to a fair deep
river called Nahr Hussain, having an old bridge turned over
it, consisting of only one arch, but that very large and exceed-
ingly well wrought. Tn one hour and a half more, travelling
still by the sea-side, we reached Tortosa.
The ancient name of this place was Orthosia. It was a
bishop's see in the province of Tyre. The writers of the holy
wars make frequent mention of it, as a place of great strength.
And one may venture to believe them, from what appears of
it at this day.
Its situation is on the sea-shore, having a spacious plain
extending around about it on its other sides. What remains
of it is the castle, which is very large and still inhabited. On
one side it is washed by the sea ; on the other, it is fortified
by a double wall of coarse marble, built after the rustic man-
ner. Between the two walls is a ditch, as likewise is another
encompassing the outermost wall. You enter this fortress on
the north side, over an old drawbridge, which lands you in a
spacious room, now for the most part uncovered, but anciently
well arched over, being the church belonging to the castle.
On one side it resembles a church, and, in witness of its being
such, shows at this day several holy emblems carved upon its
walls, as that of a dove descending, over the place where stood
the altar, and in another place that of the Holy Lamb. But,
on the side which fronts outwards, it has the face of a castle,
being built with port-holes for artillery, instead of windows.
Round the castle on the south and east sides anciently stood
the city. It had a good wall and ditch encompassing it, of
which there arc still to be seen considerable remains. But
for other buildings, there is nothing now left in it, except a
church, which stands about a furlong eastward from the cat le.
It is one hundred and thirty feet in length, in breadth
A.D. 1697.] TORTOSA TO TRIPOLI. 399
ninety-three, and in height sixty-one. Its walls, and arches,
and pillars, are of a bastard marble, and all still so entire,
that a small expense would suffice to recover it into the
state of a beautiful church again. But, to the grief of
any Christian beholder, it is now made a stall for cattle, and
we were, when we went to see it, almost up to our knees
in dirt and mire.
From Tortosa we sent our baggage before us, with orders
to advance a few miles farther toward Tripoli, to the intent
that we might shorten our stage to that place the next day.
We followed not long after, and in about a quarter of an hour
came to a river, or rather the channel of a river, for it was
almost dry, though questionless there must have been anciently
no inconsiderable stream, as we might infer both from the
largeness of the channel, and the fragments of a stone bridge
formerly laid over it.
In about half an hour more we came abreast of a small
island, about a league distant from the shore, called by the
Turks Ruad. This is supposed to be the ancient Arvad, Ar-
phad, or Arpad (under which several names it occurs, 2 Kings,
xix. 12; Gen. x. 18; Ezek. xxvii. 11, &c.), and the Aradus of
the Greeks and Romans. It seemed to the eye to be not
above two or three furlongs long, and was wholly filled up
with tall buildings like castles. The ancient inhabitants of
this island were famous for navigation, and had a command
upon the continent as far as Gabala.
About a quarter of an hour farther we came up with our
muleteers, they having pitched our tents, before they had
gone so far as we intended. But this miscarriage they well
recompensed, by the condition of the place where they
stopped, it affording us the entertainment of several notable
antiquities, which we might otherwise perhaps have passed by
unobserved. It was at a green plot lying within one hour of
Tortosa, a little southward of Aradus, and about a quarter of
a mile from the sea, having in it a good fountain (though of a
bad name) called the Serpent Fountain.
The first antiquity that we here observed was a large dyke,
thirty yards over at top, cut in the solid rock. Its sides went
sloping down, with stairs formed out of the natural rock, de-
scending gradually from the top to the bottom. This dyke
stretched in a direct line, east and west, more than a furlong,
bearing still the same figure of stairs running in right lines
400 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a D. 1697.
all along its sides. It broke off at last at a flat marshy
ground, extending about two furlongs between it and the sea.
It is hard to imagine that the water ever flowed up thus high ;
and harder, without supposing that, to resolve for what rea-
son all this pains of cutting the rock in such a fashion was
taken.
This dyke was on the north side of the Serpent Fountain ;
and, just on the other side of it, we espied another antiquity,
which took up our next observation. There was a court of
fifty-five yards square, cut in the natural rock ; the sides of the
rock standing around it, about three yards high, supplied the
place of walls. On three sides it was thus encompassed, but
to the northward it lay open. In the centre of this area a
square part of the rock was left standing, being three yards
high and five yards and a half square. This served for a
pedestal to a throne erected upon it. The throne was com-
posed of large stones, two at the sides, one at the back, an-
other hanging over all at top, in the manner of a canopy.
The whole structure was about twenty feet high, fronting to-
ward that side where the court was open. The stone that
made the canopy was five yards and three quarters square,
and carved round with a handsome cornice. What all this
might be designed for, we could not imagine, unless, perhaps,
the court may pass for an idol temple, and the pile in the
middle for the throne of the idol ; which seems the more pro-
bable, in regard that Hercules, i.e, the Sun, the great abomi-
nation of the Phoenicians, was wont to be adored in an open
temple. At the two innermost angles of the court, and like-
wise on the open side, were left pillars of the natural rock,
three at each of the former, and two at the latter.
About half a mile to the southward of the aforesaid anti-
quities, there stood in view two towers. But, it growing dark,
we were forced to defer our examination of them till the next
morning. Our whole stage this day exceeded not six hours.
March 8. — Having passed over a restless night, in a marshy
and unwholesome ground, we got up very early, in order to
take a nearer view of the two towers last mentioned. We
found them to be sepulchral monuments, erected over two
ancient burying-places. They stood at about ten yards' dis-
tance from each other.
The first was thirty-three feet high. Its longest stone or
pedestal was ten feet high, and fifteen square. The super-
A.D. 1697.] ANCIENT KUINS. 401
Structure upon which was first a tall stone in form of a cylin-
der, and then another stone cut in shape of a pyramid. The
other tower was thirty feet and two inches high. Its pedestal
was in height six feet, and sixteen feet six inches square. It
was supported by four lions, carved one at each corner of the
pedestal. The carving had been very rude at best, but was
now rendered by time much worse. The upper part reared
upon the pedestal was all one single stone.
Each of these barbarous monuments had under it several
sepulchres, the entrances into which were on the south side.
It cost us some time and pains to get into them, the avenues
being obstructed, first with briars and weeds, and then with
dirt. But, however, we removed both these obstacles, en-
couraging ourselves with the hopes, or rather making our-
selves merry with the fancy, of hidden treasure. But, as soon
as we were entered into the vaults, we found that our golden
imaginations ended (as all worldly hopes and projects do at
last) in dust and putrefaction. But, however, that we might
not go away without some reward for our pains, we took as
exact a survey as we could of these chambers of darkness,
which were disposed in manner as follows.
The chambers under the first tower lie side by side. Going
down seven or eight steps, you come to the mouth of the
sepulchre, where crawling in you arrive in the first chamber,
which is nine feet two inches broad, and eleven feet long.
Turning to the right hand, and going through a narrow pas-
sage, you come to a room which is eight feet broad and ten
long. In this chamber are seven cells for corpses, viz. two
over against the entrance, four on the left hand, and one un-
finished on the right. These cells were hewn directly into
the firm rock. We measured several of them, and found
them eight feet and a half in length, and three feet three
inches square. I would not infer from hence, that the corpses
deposited here were of such a gigantic size as to fill up such
large coffins ; though, at the same time, why should any men
be so prodigal of their labour as to cut these caverns into so
hard a rock as this was, much farther than necessity re-
quired?
On the other side of the first chamber was a narrow pas-
sage, seven feet long, leading into a room whose dimensions
were nine feet in breadth and twelve in length. It had eleven
D D
402 HENEY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
cells of somewhat a less size than the former, lying at equal
distances all round about it.
Passing out of the first room, you have, right before you,
two narrow entrances, each seven feet long, into another
room. This apartment was nine feet square. It had no cells
in it like the others, nor any thing else remarkable, but only
a bench, cut all along its side on the left hand. From the
description of this sepulchre, it is easy to conceive the dispo-
sition of the other. The height of the rooms in both was
about six feet, and the towers were built each over the inner-
most room of the sepulchres to which it belonged.
At about the distance of a furlong from this place, we dis-
cerned another tower, resembling this last described. It was
erected likewise over a sepulchre. There w^as this singularity
observable in this last sepulchre, that its cells were cut into
the rock eighteen feet in length, possibly to the intent, that
two or three corpses might be deposited in each of them, at
the feet of one another. But, having a long stage this day to
Tripoli, we thought it not seasonable to spend any more time
in this place, which might perhaps have afforded us several
other antiquities.
And yet, for all our haste, we had not gone a mile, before
our curiosity was again arrested by the observation of another
tower, which appeared in a thicket not far from the wayside.
It was thirty-three feet and a half high, and thirty-one feet
square, composed of huge square stones, and adorned with a
handsome cornice all around at top. It contained only tw^o
rooms, one above the other ; into both which there were en-
trances on the north side, through two square holes in the
wall. The separation between both rooms, as also the cover-
ing at the top, was made, not of arched work, but of vast flat
stones, in thickness four feet, and so great an extent, that two
of them in each place, sufficed to spread over the whole fabric.
This was a very ancient structure, and probably a place of
sepulture.
I must not forget, that around about the Serpent Fountain,
and also as far as this last tower, w^e saw^ many sepulchres,
old foundations, and other remains of antiquity. From all
which it may be assuredly concluded, that here must needs
have been some famous habitation in ancient times ; but whe-
ther this might be the Ximyra, laid down by Strabo here-
A.D. 1697.] THE RIVER ELEUTHERUS. 403
abouts (or, as Pliny calls it, Simyra-''^), the same, possibly,
with the country of the Zemarites, mentioned in conjunction
with the Arvaditesf, I leave to others to discuss.
Having quitted ourselves of these antiquities, we entered
into a spacious plain, extending to a vast breadth, between the
sea and the mountains, and in length reaching almost as far
as Tripoli. The people of the country call it Junia, that is,
the Plain, which name they give it by way of eminency, upon
account of its vast extent. We were full seven hours in pass-
ing it, and found it all along exceedingly fruitful, by reason of
the many rivers and the great plenty of water which it en-
joys. Of these rivers the first is about six hours before you
come to Tripoli. It has a stone bridge over it of three large
arches, and is the largest stream in the whole plain ; for
which reason it goes by the name of Nahr-el-Kibber, or the
Great River. About half an hour farther you come to another
river, called Nahr Abrosh, or the Leper s River. In three
quarters of an hour more you pass a third river, called Nahr
Acchar, having a handsome stone bridge, of one very large
arch laid over it. Two good hours more bring you to a
fourth river, called or the Cold Waters, with a
bridge of three arches over it. From hence you have two
good hours more to Tripoli. I took the more exact account
of all these streams to the intent that I might give some light,
for the better deciding that difference which is found in geo-
graphers about the place of the river Eleutherus. The mo-
derns, all with one consent, give that name to a river between
Tyre and Sidon, called by the Turks Casimeer. But this
contradicts the universal testimony of the ancients, who place
Eleutherus more northward. Strabo will have it somew^here
between Orthosia and Tripoli, as a boundary dividing Syria
from Phoenicia]:. Pliny places it near Orthosia, emptying it-
self into the sea over against Aradus§. The writer of the
Maccabees II lays it in the land of Hamath, which country,
whatever it were, was certainly without the borders of Israel,
as appears from the same author. To this Josephus agrees,
placing Eleutherus to the north of Sidon, as may be collected
from him If, where, speaking of Mark Antony's donation to
Cleopatra, he reports how that extravagant gallant gave her
* Nat. Hist., lib. v. cap. 20. + Gen. x. 18.
X Strabo, p. 518. § Nat. Hist, lib. v. cap. 20.
II 1 Mac. xii. 25, 30. % Antiq. Jud., lib. 14, cap. 7, 8.
D D 2
404 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
all the cities between Eleutherus and Egypt, except Tyre and
Sidon. Ptolemy, as cited by Terranius, places it yet more
northerly, between Orthosia and Balnea. From all which it
is evident that this cannot be the true ancient Eleutherus,
which the moderns assign for it. But that name is rather to
be ascribed to one of these rivers crossing the plain of Junia ;
or else (if Pliny's authority may be relied upon) to that river
(now dry) which I mentioned a little on this side of Tortosa,
and which has its mouth almost opposite to Aradus. But I
will not determine any thing on this point, contenting myself
to have given an account of the several rivers as we passed them.
March 9. — Drawing towards Tripoli, our muleteers were
afraid to advance, lest their beasts might be pressed for
public service ; as they were afterwards, in spite of all their
caution, to our vexation. So we left them in the plain of
Junia, and proceeded ourselves to Tripoli, where we arrived
about sunset. Our whole stage this day w^as ten hours.
At Tripoli we reposed a full week, being very generously
entertained by Mr. Francis Hastings, the consul, and Mr.
John Fisher, merchant ; theirs being the only English house
in Tripoli.
Tripoli is seated about half an hour from the sea. The
major part of the city lies betw^een two hills ; one on the east,
on which is a castle commanding the place ; another on the
west, between the city and the sea. This latter is said to
have been at first raised and to be still increased by the daily
accession of sand, blown to it from the shore, upon which
occasion there goes a prophecy that the whole city shall in
time be buried with this sandy hill. But the Turks seem not
very apprehensive of this prediction ; for, instead of prevent-
ing the growth of the hill, they suffer it to take its course,
and make it a place of pleasure, which they would have little
inclination to do, did they apprehend it were some time to be
their grave.
March 10. — This day we were all treated by Mr. Fisher in
the Campagnia. The place where we dined was a narrow
pleasant valley, by a river's side, distant from the city about
a mile eastward. Across the valley there runsi from hill to
hill a handsome lofty aqueduct, carrying upon it so large a
body of water as suffices the whole city. It was called the
Prince's Bridge, supposed to have been built by Godfrey of
BouUoin.
A.D. 1697.] TRIPOLI. 405
March 11. — This day we all dined at consul Hastings's
house, and after dinner went to wait upon Ustan, the pasha
of Tripoli, having first sent our present, as the manner is
amongst the Turks, to procure a propitious reception.
It is counted uncivil to visit in this country without an
offering in hand. All great men expect it as a kind of tribute
due to their character and authority, and look upon them-
selves as affronted, and, indeed, defrauded, when this compli-
ment is omitted. Even in familiar visits amongst inferior
people, you shall seldom have them come without bringing a
flower, or an orange, or some other such token of their
respect to the person visited ; the Turks in this point keeping
up the ancient oriental custom hinted in 1 Sam. ix. 7. " If we
go," says Saul, "what shall we bring the man of God? there
is not a present," &c., which words are questionless to be
understood in conformity to this eastern custom, as relating
to a token of respect, and not a price of divination.
March 12. — In the afternoon we went to visit Bell-Mount,
a convent of Greeks, about two hours to the southward of
Tripoli. It w^as founded by one of the earls of Tripoli, and
stands upon a very high rocky mountain, looking over the
sea; a place of very difficult ascent, though made as accessible
as it was capable by the labour of the poor monks. It was
our fortune to arrive there just as they were going to their
evening service. Their chapel is large, but obscure, and the
altar is inclosed with cancelli, so as not to be approached by
any one but the priest, according to the fashion of the Greek
churches. They call their congregation together by beating a
kind of tune with two mallets on a long pendulous piece of
plank at the church door, bells being an abomination to the
Turks.
Their service consisted in precipitate and very irreverent
chattering of certain prayers and hymns to our blessed Sa-
viour, and to the blessed Virgin, and in some dark cere-
monies ; the priest that officiated spent at least one-third part
of his time in compassing the altar, and perfuming it with a
pot of incense, and then going all round the congregation,
flinging his incense-pot backwards and forwards, and tendering
its smoke with three repeated vibrations to every person
present. Towards the end of the service there was brought
into the body of the church a small table covered with a fair
linen cloth, on which were placed five small cakes of bread
406 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
cross way, in this form °o^ , and in the centre of each cake was
fixed a small lighted wax taper, a hole in the cake serving for
a socket.
At this ceremony the priest read the gospel concerning
our Lord's feeding the multitude with five loaves. After
which the bread was carried into the cancelli, and, being there
suddenly broke into bits, was again brought out in a basket,
and presented to every one in the assembly, that he might
take a little. After this collation the priest pronounced the
. blessing, and so the service ended. On both sides of the body
of the church were seats for the monks, in the nature of the
stalls for the fellows of colleges in Oxford ; and on each hand
of every seat were placed crutches. These you find in like
manner in most churches of this country. Their use is for
the priest to lean upon, the service being sometimes so long,
that they cannot well stay it out without the assis-tance of
such easements, for they are not permitted by their rubric
to sit down. The younger monks, who perhaps may have no
great occasion for these supporters, do yet delight to use them
(as the Spaniards do spectacles), not for any necessity, but in
affectation of gravity.
The monks of this convent were, as I remember, forty in
all. We found them seemingly a very good-natured, and
industrious, but certainly a very ignorant people. For I
found upon inquiry they could not give any manner of
rationale of their own divine service. And, to show their
extreme simplicity, I cannot omit a compliment made to the
consul, by the chief of them, viz., that he was as glad to see him
as if he had beheld the Messiah himself coming in person
to make a visit to him.
Nor is this ignorance to be much wondered at; for what
intervals of time they have between their hours of devotion
they are forced to spend, not in study, but in managing of
their flocks, cultivating their land, pruning their vineyards,
and other labours of husbandry, which they accomplish with
their own hands. This toil they ar^ obliged to undergo, not
only to provide for their own sustenance, but also that they
may be able to satisfy the unreasonable exactions which the
greedy Turks, upon every pretence they can invent, are ready
to impose upon them. But, that it may be the better guessed
what sort of men these Greek monks are, I will add this
further indication, viz., that the same person whom we saw
A.D. 1697.] VISIT TO THE PASHA. 407
officiating at the altar in his embroidered sacerdotal robe
brought us the next day, on his own back, a kid, and a goat's
skin of wine, as a present from the convent.
March 13. — This morning we went again to wait upon
Ustan pasha, by his own appointment, and were entertained
as before with great courtesy. For you must know that the
Turks are not so ignorant of civility and the arts of endear-
ment, but that they can practise them with as much exactness
as any other nation, whenever they have a mind to show
themselves obliging. For the better apprehending of which,
it may not be improper nor unpleasant here to describe the
ceremonies of a Turkish visit, as far as they have ever
fallen under my observation, either upon this or any other
occasion.
When you would make a visit to a person of quality here,
you must send one before with a present to bespeak your
admission, and to know at what hour your coming may be
most seasonable. Being come to the house, the servants
receive you at the outermost gate, and conduct you towards
their lord or master's apartment; other servants (I suppose
of better rank) meeting you in the way, at their several sta-
tions, as you draw nearer to the person you visit. Coming
into his room, you find him prepared to receive you, either;
standing at the edge of the divan, or else lying down at one
corner of it, according as he thinks it proper to maintain a
greater or less distinction. These divans are a sort of low
stages, seated in the pleasantest part of the room, elevated
about sixteen or eighteen inches or more above the floor.
They are spread with carpets, and furnished all round with
bolsters for leaning upon. Upon these the Turks eat, sleep,
smoke, receive visits, say their prayers, &c. Their whole
delight is in lolling upon them; and in furnishing them richly
out is their greatest luxury.
Being come to the side of the divan, you slip off your
shoes, and stepping up take your place; which you must do
first at some distance, and upon your knees, laying your hand
very formally before you. Thus you must remain till the
man of quality invites you to draw nearer, and to put yourself
in an easier posture, leaning upon the bolster. Being thus
fixed, he discourses with you as the occasion offers, the
servants standing round all the while in a great number, and
with the profoundest respect, silence, and order imaginable.
408 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
When you have talked over your business, or the compliments,
or whatever other concern brought you thither, he makes a
sign to have things served in for the entertainment, which is
generally a little sweetmeat, a dish of sherbet, and another of
coffee ; all which are immediately brought in by the servants,
and tendered to all the guests in order, with the greatest care
and awfulness imaginable. And they have reason to look
well to it ; for should any servant make but the least slip or
mistake, either in delivering or receiving his dish, it might
cost him fifty, perhaps one hundred drubs on his bare feet, to
atone for his crime. At last comes the finishing part of
your entertainment, which is perfuming the beards of the
company, a ceremony which is performed in this manner.
They have for this purpose a small silver chafing-dish,
covered with a lid full of holes, and fixed upon a handsome
plate. In this they put some fresh coals, and upon them a
piece of lignum aloes, and then, shutting it up, the smoke
immediately ascends with a grateful odour through the holes
of the cover. This smoke is held under every one's chin, and
offered as it were a sacrifice to his beard. The bristly idol
soon perceives the reverence done to it, and so greedily takes
in and incorporates the gummy steam, that it retains the
savour of it, and may serve for a nosegay a good while after.
This ceremony may perhaps seem ridiculous at first hear-
ing, but it passes among the Turks for a high gratification.
And I will say this in its vindication, that its design is very
wise and useful. For it is understood to give a civil dis-
mission to the visitants, intimating to them that the master
of the house has business to do, or some other avocation, that
permits them to go away as soon as they please, and the
sooner after this ceremony the better. By this means you
may at any time, without offence, deliver yourself from being
detained from your affairs by tedious and unseasonable visits,
and from being constrained to use that piece of hypocrisy so
common in the world, of pressing those to stay longer with
you whom perhaps in your heart you wish a great way off for
having troubled you so long already. But of this enough.
Having discharged our visit to Ustan pasha, we rode out
after dinner to view the marine. It is about half an hour
distant from the city. The port is an open sea rather than
an inclosed harbour. However it is in part defended from the
force of the waves by two small islands about two leagues out
A.D. 1697.] TRIPOLI. 409
from the shore, one of which is called the Bird, the other the
Coney Island, being so named from the creatures which they
severally produce. For its security from pirates it has several
castles, or rather square towers, built all along upon the
shore at convenient distances. They are, I think, six in
number ; but at present void of all manner of force both of
men and ammunition.
In the fields near the shore appeared many heaps of ruins
and pillars of granite, and several other indications that there
must have been anciently some considerable buildings this
w^ay, which agrees very well with what Casaubon, in his notes
upon Strabo^, quotes out of Diodorus, viz., that the place
called Tripoli was anciently a cluster of three cities, standing
at a furlong's distance from each other, of which the first was
a seat of the Radii, the second of the Sidonians, the third of
the Tyrians ; and from hence it is probable that Tripoli was
a name given at first to three distinct but adjacent places,
and not to one city, built, as is usually said, by the mingled
interest of Tyre, Sidon, and Aradus ; it being hard to conceive
how three such independent commonwealths should thus con-
cur in the founding of one city between them; and harder,
how they should agree in governing it afterwards.
Sunday, March 14. — We continued still in Tripoli.
March 15. — Resolving to prosecute our journey this day,
we had given orders to our muleteers, some time before, to be
ready to attend us ; but they had been so frightened by the
pasha of Sidon s servants, who were abroad in quest of mules
for the service of their master, that they were run away, and
could not be heard of; a disappointment which gave us much
vexation, and left us to no other remedy but only to supply
ourselves with fresh beasts where we could find them.
Having, after much trouble, put ourselves in a new posture
of travelling, we parted from Tripoli at three o'clock in the
afternoon. Proceeding close by the sea, we came, in one hour
and a half, to Callemone, a small village just under Bell-
Mount. From hence, putting forward till near eight o'clock,
w^e came to a high promontory, which lay directly across our
way, and broke off abruptly at the sea-side, with a cape very
high and almost perpendicular. In order to pass this barrier
we turned up on the left hand into a narrow valley, through
* Page 213.
410 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697.
whicli our road lay ; and, it being now late, we took up our
quarters there under some olive-trees, having come, in all,
about five hours.
The promontory which terminated our journey seems to be
that called by Strabo^- to rov Q^ov Trpoa-ojTrov, or the face of God,
assigned by that author for the end of Mount Libanus. Be-
tween this place and Tripoli he mentions, likewise, a city
called Trieris ; but of this we saw no footsteps, unless you will
allow for such some sepulchres which we saw cut in the rocks
about one hour and a half before we arrived at the promontory.
March 16. — We were no sooner in motion this morning,
but we were engaged in the difficult work of crossing over
the forementioned cape. The pass over it lies about a mile
up from the sea. We found it very deep and rugged ; but in
an hour or thereabout mastered it, and arrived in a narrow
valley on the other side, which brought the sea open to us
again. Near the entrance of this valley stands a small fort,
erected upon a rock perpendicular on all sides, the walls of the
building being just adequate to the sides of the rock, and
seeming almost of one continued piece with them. This
castle is called Temseida, and commands the passage into the
valley.
In about half an hour from this place we came even with
Patrone, a place esteemed to be the ancient Botrus. It is
situated close by the sea ; and, our road lying somewhat
higher up in the land, we diverted a little out of the way to
see it. We found in it some remains of an old church and a
monastery ; but these are now perfectly ruined and desolate,
as is likewise the whole city ; nor is there any thing left in it
to testify it has been a place of any great consideration.
In three hours more we came to Gibyle, called by the
Greeks Byblus, a place once famous for the birth and temple
of Adonis. It is pleasantly situated by the sea-side. At
present it contains but a little extent of ground, but yet more
than enough for the small number of its inhabitants. It is
compassed with a dry ditch and a wall, with square towers in
it at about every forty yards' distance. On its south side it
has an old castle. Within it is a church exactly of the same
figure with that at Tortosa, only not so entire as that.
Besides this it has nothing remarkable, though anciently it
* Strabo, lib. 16, Pomp. Mela, lib. i. cap. 12.
A.D. 1697.] BYBLUS : THE RIVER ADONIS. 411
was a place of no mean extent as well as beauty, as may appear
from the many heaps of ruins, and the fine pillars that are
scattered up and down in the gardens near the town.
Gibyle is probably the country of the Giblites, mentioned
Josh. xiii. 5. King Hiram made use of the people of this
place in preparing materials for Solomon's temple, as may be
collected from the first of Kings, v. 18, where the word which
our translator has rendered stone-squarers, in the Hebrew is
CD''b>2J, Giblim, or Giblites, and in the LXXII Interpreters,
Bvl3xtoi, that is, the Men of Byblus ; the former using the
Hebrew, the latter the Greek name of this place. The same
difference may be observed likewise in Ezekiel, xxvii. 9,
where this place is again mentioned; the ancients of Gebal,
says our translation, following the Hebrew^ ; instead of w^hich
you read in the LXXII. again ol Trp^crlSvre^oi Bv^xiwv, the
elders of Bybli or Byblus.
Leaving Gibyle, we came in one hour to a fair, large river,
with a stone bridge over it, of only one arch, but that ex-
ceeding wide and lofty. To this river the Turks give the
name of Ibrahim Pasha ; but it is doubtless the ancient river
Adonis, so famous for the idolatrous rites performed here in
lamentation of Adonis. Upon the bank of this stream we
took up our quarters for the following night, having come this
day about six hours. We had a very tempestuous night both
of wind and rain, almost without cessation, and with so great
violence that our servants were hardly able to keep up our
tents over us. But, however, this accident, which gave us so
much trouble in the night, made us amends with a curiosity
which it yielded us an opportunity of beholding the next
morning.
March 17. — For by this means we had the fortune to see
what may be supposed to be the occasion of that opinion
which Lucian relates concerning the river, viz., that this
stream, at certain seasons of the year, especially about the
feast of Adonis, is of a bloody colour, which the heathens
looked upon as proceeding from a kind of sympathy in the
river for the death of Adonis, who was killed by a wild boar
in the mountains out of which this stream rises. Something
like this we saw actually come to pass; for the water was
stained to a surprising redness, and, as we observed in
travelling, had discoloured the sea, a great way, into a reddish
hue, occasioned, doubtless, by a sort of minium, or red earth,
412 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697.
washed into the river by the violence of the rain, and not by
any stain from Adonis's blood.
In an hour and a quarter from this river we passed over
the foot of the mountain Climax, where, having gone through
a very rugged and uneven pass, we came into a large bay
called Junia. At the first entrance into the bay is an old
stone bridge, which appoints the limits between the two
pashalicks of Tripoli and Sidon. At the bottom of the bay
are exceeding high and steep mountains, between which and
the sea the road lies. These are the mountains of Castravan,
chiefly inhabited by Maronites, famous for a growth of excel-
lent wine. The Maronite bishop of Aleppo has here his resi-
dence in a convent, of which he is the guardian. We saw
many other small convents on the top of these mountains, one
of which, called Oozier, was, as we were here told, in the
hands of ten or twelve Latin friars. Towards the further side
of the bay we came to a square tower, or castle, of which kind
there are many all along upon the coast for several days'
journey from this place. They are said to have been built by
the empress Helena, for the protection of the country from
pirates. At this tower is to be paid a fourth ^^ caphar. It is
received by Maronites, a pack of rogues more exacting and
insolent in their office than the very Turks themselves. A
little beyond this place we came to a road cut through the
rocks, which brought us out of the bay, having been one hour
and a quarter in compassing it. In an hour more, spent upon
a very rugged way, close by the sea, we came to the river
Lycus, called also, sometimes, Canis, and by the Turks, at
this day, Nahr Kelp. It derives its name from an idol in the
form of a dog or wolf, which was worshipped, and is said to
have pronounced oracles, at this place. The image is pre-
tended to be shown to strangers at this day, lying in the sea
with its heels upward. I mean the body of it ; for its oracular
head is reported to have been broken off and carried to Venice,
where (if fame be true) it may be seen at this day.
I know not by what mistake several modern geographers
confound this river with Adonis, making them to be one and
the same, whereas the contrary is apparent, both from ex-
perimental observation and from the authority of ancient
geographers.
* Half per Frank, quarter per servant.
A.D. 1697.] ANCIENT INSCRIPTION. 413
This river issues into the sea from between two mountains
excessively steep and high, and so rocky that they seem to
consist each of one entire stone. For crossing the river you
go up between these mountains about a bow-shot from the
sea, where you have a good bridge of four arches, near the
foot of which is a piece of white marble inlaid in the side of a
rock, with an Arab inscription on it, intimating its founder to
have been the emir Faccardine (of whom I shall have occasion
to speak more when I come to Beirout). Being passed the
river, you immediately begin to ascend the mountain, or
rather great rock, on the other side. To accommodate the
passage you have a path of above two yards' breadth cut
along its side, at a great height above the water, being the
work of the emperor Antoninus ; for the promontory allowing
no passage between it and the sea, at bottom, that emperor
undertook, with incredible labour, to open this way above,
the memory of which good work is perpetuated by an inscrip-
tion engraved on a table planed in the side of the natural
rock, not far from the entrance into the way, as follows : —
imp: caes: m: aurelius
antoninus, pius, felix, augustus
parth: max: brit: germ: maximus
PONTIFEX maximus
montibus imminentibus
LYCO flumini caesis viam dilatavit
PER — {purposely erased) —
ANTONINIANAM SUAM
A little higher up in the way are inscribed these words : —
INVICTE imp: ANTONINE P: FELIX AUG:
multis annis impera!
In passing this way, we observed, in the sides of the rock
above us, several tables of figures carved, which seemed to
promise something of antiquity. To be satisfied of which,
some of us clambered up to the place, and found there some
signs as if the old way had gone in that region, before Anto-
ninus cut the other more convenient passage a little lower.
In several places thereabouts we saw strange antique figures
of men carved in the natural rock, in mezzo relievo, and in
bigness equal to the life. Close by each figure was a large
414 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
table planed in the side of the rock, and bordered round with
mouldings. Both the effigies and the tables appeared to have
been anciently inscribed all over, but the characters are now
so defaced, that nothing but the footsteps of them were visible.
There was only one of the figures that had both its linea-
ments and its inscriptions entire.
It was our unhappiness to have at this place a very violent
storm of thunder and rain, which made our company too
much in haste to make any longer stay here. By which mis-
fortune I was prevented, to my great regret, from copying the
inscription, and making such an exact scrutiny into this anti-
quity as it seemed very well to deserve. I hope some curious
traveller or other will have better success in passing this way
hereafter. The figures seemed to resemble mummies, and
were perhaps the representation of some persons buried here-
about, whose sepulchres might probably also be discovered by
the diligent observer.
The Antonine way extends about a quarter of an hour's
travel. It is at present so broken and uneven, that to repair
it would require no less labour than that wherewith it was
at first made. After this pass you come upon a smooth sandy
shore, which brings you in about one hour and a half to the
river Beirout (for I could learn no other name it had). It is
a large river, and has over it a stone bridge of six arches. On
its other side is a plain field near the sea, which is said to be
the stage on which St. George duelled and killed the dragon.
In memory of this achievement there is a small chapel built
upon the place, dedicated at first to tbat Christian hero, but
now perverted to a mosque. From thence, in an hour, w^e
arrived at Beirout, very wet by reason of the long and severe
rain. However, we found here the shelter of a good khan by
the sea-side, and there we took up our quarters. Our whole
stage, this day, was about six hours and a half.
March 18. — The day following we spent at Beirout, being
credibly informed that the river Damer, which lay in our next
stage, was so swollen by the late rains that it would be im-
passable. This place was anciently called Berytus, from which
the idol Baal-Berith is supposed to have had its name; and
afterwards, being greatly esteemed by Augustus, had many
privileges conferred upon it, and together with them a new
name, viz. Julia Felix. But at present it retains nothing of
its ancient felicity, except the situation, and in that particular
A.D. 1697.] BEIROUT. 415
it is indeed very happy. It is seated on the sea-side, in a
soil fertile and delightful, raised only so high above the salt
water as to he secure from its overflowings, and all other
noxious and unwholesome effects of that element. It has the
benefit of good fresh springs flowing down to it from the ad-
jacent hills, and dispensed all over the city, in convenient and
not unhandsome fountains. But, besides these advantages of
its situation, it has at present nothing else to boast of.
The emir Faccardine had his chief residence in this place.
He was in the reign of sultan Morat, the fourth emir, or
prince of the Druses, a people supposed to have descended
from some dispersed remainder of those Christian armies that
engaged in the crusades for the recovery of the Holy Land-!^,
who afterwards being totally routed, and despairing of a re-
turn to their native country again, betook themselves to the
mountains hereabout, in which their descendants have con-
tinued ever since. Faccardine, being (as I said) prince of
these people, was not contented to be penned up in the moun-
tains, but by his power and artifice enlarged his dominions
down into the sea-coast, as far from this place to Acre. At
last the Grand Seignior, growing jealous of such a growing
power, drove the wild beast back again to the mountains from
whence he had broke loose ; and there his posterity retain
their principality to this day.
We went to view the palace of this prince, which stands
on the north-east part of the city. At the entrance of it is a
marble fountain, of greater beauty than is usually seen in
Turkey. The palace within consists of several courts, all now
run much to ruin, or rather perhaps never finished. The
stables, yards for horses, dens for lions and other savage crea-
tures, gardens, &c., are such as would not be unworthy of the
quality of a prince in Christendom, were they wrought up to
that perfection of which they are capable, and to which they
seem to have been designed by their first contriver.
But the best sight that this palace affords, and the most
worthy to be remembered, is the orange garden. It contains
a large quadrangular plot of ground, divided into sixteen
lesser squares, four in a row, with walks between them. The
walks are shaded with orange-trees, of a large spreading size,
* This is certainly an erroneous notion : the Drupes are alluded to by the
rabbi Benjamin in the 12th century. See pp. 79, 80.
416 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
and all of so fine a growth both for stem and head, that one
cannot imagine any thing more perfect of this kind. They
were, at the time when we were there, as it were gilded with
fruit, hanging thicker upon them than ever I saw apples in
England. Every one of these sixteen lesser squares in the
garden was bordered with stone, and in the stonework were
troughs very artificially contrived, for conveying the water all
over the garden, there being little outlets cut at every tree,
for the stream, as it passed by, to flow out and water it
Were this place under the cultivation of an English gardener,
it is impossible any thing could be made more delightful.
But these Hesperides were put to no better use, when we
saw them, than to serve as a fold for sheep and goats, inso-
much that in many places they were up to the knees in dirt.
So little sense have the Turks of such refined delights as
these, being a people generally of the grossest apprehension,
and knowing few other pleasures but such sensualities as are
equally common both to man and beast. On the east side
of this garden were two terrace-walks, rising one above the
other, each of them having an ascent to it of twelve steps.
They had both several fine spreading orange-trees upon them,
to make shades in proper places. And at the north end they
led into booths, and summer-houses, and other apartments,
very delightful ; this place being designed by Faccardine for
the chief seat of his pleasure.
It may perhaps be wondered how this emir should be able
to contrive any thing so elegant and regular as this garden,
seeing the Turkish gardens are usually nothing else but a
confused miscellany of trees jumbled together, without either
knots, walks, arbours, or any thing of art or design, so that
they seem like thickets rather than gardens. But Faccardine
had been in Italy, where he had seen things of another
nature, and knew well how to copy them in his own country;
for indeed it appears, by these remains of him, that he must
needs have been a man much above the ordinary level of a
Turkish genius.
In another garden we saw several pedestals for statues,
from whence it may be inferred that this emir was no very
zealous Mohammedan. At one corner of the same garden
stood a tower of about sixty feet high, designed to have been
carried to a much greater elevation for a watch-tower, and for
that end built with an extraordinary strength, its walls being
,A.D. 1697.] GKEEK CHUKCH AT TRIPOLI. 417
twelve feet thick. From this tower we had a view of the
whole city. Amongst other prospects, it yielded us the sight
of a large Christian church, said to have been at first conse-
crated to St. John the Evangelist ; but, it being now usurped
by the Turks for their chief mosque, we could not be per-
mitted to see it, otherwise than at this distance. Another
church there is in the town, which seems to be ancient ; but,
being a very mean fabric, it is suffered to remain still in the
hands of the Greeks. We found it adorned with abundance
of old pictures. Amongst the rest I saw one with this little
inscription, Kovocproi; tt^^jto; A^x^iTrla-ytoiroc Byi^ovtov ; and jUSt
by it was the figure of Nestorius, who commonly makes one
amongst the saints painted in the Greek churches, though
they do not now profess, nor, I believe, so much as know his
heresy. But that which appeared most observable was a very
odd figure of a saint, drawn at full length, with a large beard
reaching down to his feet. The curate gave us to understand
that this was St. Nicephorus ; and, perceiving that his beard
was the chief object of our admiration, he gratified us with
the following relation concerning him ; viz., That he was a
person of the most eminent virtue in his time ; but his great
misfortune was, that the endowments of his mind were not
set off with the outward ornament of a beard. Upon occasion
of which defect he fell into a deep melancholy. The devil,
taking advantage of this priest, promised to give him that
boon which nature had denied, in case he would comply with
his suggestion. The beardless saint, though he was very de-
sirous of the reward proposed, yet he would not purchase it
at that rate neither, but rejected the previous bribe with in-
dignation, declaring resolutely that he had rather for ever
despair of his wish than obtain it upon such terms ; and, at
the same time, taking in hand the downy tuft upon his chin,
to witness the stability of his resolution (for he had, it seems,
beard enough to swear by), behold ! as a reward for his con-
stancy, he found the hair immediately stretch with the pluck
that he gave it. Whereupon, finding it in so good a humour,
he followed the happy omen ; and, as young heirs that have
been niggardly bred, generally turn prodigals when they come
to their estates, so he never desisted from pulling his beard
till he had drawn it down to his feet. But enough both of
the beard and the story. At the east end of Beirout are to
be seen seven or eight beautiful pillars of granite, each ....
E E
418 HENRY MAUNDRELL [a.D. 1697.
feet long, and three in diameter. And over another gate,
not far distant, we found on a piece of marble the following
inscription : T^^ tov 7r^ouiovTo<; ocv^^oq hvoiuq uhl a-o(,<^Y)t; 'iK^yyoc^ yj
f^£iX^°^ ystvETat iTTYj^Yii; x^<^'^' ^^ ^^^ probably at first an altar
inscription, relating to the offertory in the holy communion,
for its sense seems to look that way, and it is well known
that the comers to the blessed sacrament were called by the
ancients by the peculiar name of ot TTfoo-Uvrsc, as Yalesius
proves out of St. Chrysostom^.
On the south side the town wall is still entire, but built
out of the ruins of the old city, as appears by pieces of pil-
lars and marble which help to build it. On one piece of
marble table we saw these remaining letters of a Latin in-
scription:—
. . . . VG. ETTA ....
.... XI CUM ....
. . . . VS PHOEBUS ....
All the rest being purposely erased.
A little without this wall we saw many granite pillars and
remnants of Mosaic floors, and in a heap of rubbish several
pieces of polished marble, fragments of statues, and other
poor relics of this city's ancient magnificence. On the sea-
shore is an old ruined castle, and some remains of a small mole.
March 19. — Leaving Beirout, we came in one-third of an
hour to a large plain extending from the sea to the mountains.
At the beginning of the plain is a grove of pine-trees of Fac-
cardine's plantation. We guessed it to be more than half a
mile across ; and so pleasant and inviting was its shade, that
it was not without some regret that we passed it by. Con-
tinuing in this plain, we saw at a distance, on our left hand,
a small village called Suckfoat. It belongs to the Druses,
who possess at this day a long tract of mountains, as far as
from Castravan to Carmel. Their present prince is Achmet,
grandson to Faccardine, an old man, and one who keeps up
the custom of his ancestors of turning day into night, an he-
reditary practice in his family, proceeding from a traditional
persuasion amongst them, that princes can never sleep securely
but by day, when men's actions and designs are best observed
by their guards, and, if need be, most easily prevented ; but
. * Vales. Not. in Euseb. Eccl. Hist., lib. vii. cap. 9.
A.D. 1697.] THE RIVER TAMYRAS. 419
that in the night it concerns them to he always vigilant, lest
the darkness, aided by their sleeping, should give traitors
both opportunity and encouragement to assault their persons,
and by a dagger or a pistol to make them continue their sleep
longer than they intended when they lay down.
Two hours from Faccardine's grove brought us to the fifth
caphar, and another little hour to the river Damer or Tamy-
ras, the former being its modern, the latter its ancient name.
It is a river apt to swell much upon sudden rains ; in which
case, precipitating itself from the mountains with great rapi-
dity, it has been fatal to many passengers. Amongst the rest,
one Monsieur Spon, nephew to Dr. Spon, coming from Jeru-
salem about four years ago, in company with some English gen-
tlemen, in passing this stream, was hurried down by it, and
perished in the sea, which lies about a furlong lower than the
passage.
We had the good fortune to find the river in a better tem-
per, its waters being now assuaged since the late rains. How-
ever, the country fellows were ready here, according to their
trade, to have assisted us in our passage over ; in order to
which, they had very officiously stripped themselves naked
against our coming ; and to the end that they might oblige
us to make use of their help, for which they would be well
paid, they brought us to a place where the water was deepest,
pretending there was no other passage besides that, which
cheat we saw them actually impose upon some other travel-
lers, who came not long after us. But we had been advised
of a place a little higher in the river, where the stream was
broader and shallower, and there we easily passed without
their assistance. Just by this place are the ruins of a stone
bridge, of which one might guess by the firmness of its re-
mains that it might have been still entire, had not these vil-
lains broke it down, in order to their making their advan-
tages of passengers, either conducting them over for good
pay, or else, if they have opportunity, drowning them for
their spoils.
On the other side of the river, the mountains approach
closer to the sea, leaving only a narrow rocky way between.
From Damer, in two hours, we came to another river of no
inconsiderable figure, but not once mentioned by any geo-
grapher that I know of. It is within one hour of Sidon. Its
channel is deep, contains a good^tream, and has a large stone
E E 2
420 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697,
bridge over it. Speaking of this river to the reverend father
Stephano, Maronite patriarch at Canobine, he told me it was
called Awle, and had its fountain near Berook, a village in
Mount Libanus.
At this river we were met by several of the French mer-
chants from Sidon, they having a factory there the most con-
siderable of all theirs in the Levant. Being arrived at Sidon,
we pitched our tents by a cistern without the city, but were
ourselves conducted by the French gentlemen to the place of
their habitation, which is a large khan close by the sea, where
the consul and all the nation are quartered together. Before
the front of this khan is an old mole running into the sea
with a right angle ; it was of no capacity at best, but now is
rendered perfectly useless, having been purposely filled up
with rubbish and earth by Faccardine, to prevent the Turkish
galleys from making their unwelcome visits to this place.
The mole being thus destroyed, all ships that take in their
burden here are forced to ride at anchor under the shelter of
a small ridge of rocks about a mile distant from the shore, on
the north side of the city. Sidon is stocked well enough
with inhabitants, but is very much shrunk from its ancient
extent, and more from its splendour, as appears from a great
many beautiful pillars that lie scattered up and down the gar-
dens without the present walls. Whatever antiquities may at
any time have been hereabout, they are now all perfectly ob-
scured and buried by the Turkish buildings. Upon the south
side of the city, on a hill, stands an old castle, said to have
been the work of Louis IX. of France, surnamed the saint ;
and not far from the castle is an old unfinished palace of Fac-
cardine s, serving, however, the pasha for his seraglio, neither
of them worth mentioning, had the city afforded us any thing
else more remarkable. Near about Sidon begin the pre-
cincts of the Holy Land, and of that part of it in particular
which was allotted to Asher ; the borders of which tribe ex-
tended from Carmel as far as G reat Zidon, as appears from
Josh. xix. 26, 28. But the people upon the sea-coast were
never actually mastered by the Israelites, being left by the
just judgment of God to be thorns in their sides, for a reason
that may be seen in Judges, ii. 1 — 3, &c.
The person who is the French consul at Sidon has also
the title of consul of Jerusalem, and is obliged by his master,
the French king, to make a visit to the holy city every Easter,
A.D. 1697.] STDON. 421
under pretence of preserving the sanctuary there from the
violations, and the friars who have the custody of it from the
exactions, of the Turks. But the friars think themselves
much safer without this protection. We were desirous to
join with Monsieur I'Empereur, the present consul, in this
year's pilgrimage, and, accordingly, had sent him a letter
from Aleppo on purpose to bespeak that favour, hoping by his
protection to pass more securely from the abuses of the Arabs
and Turks, who are nowhere so insolent as in Palestine and
about Jerusalem. We had his promise to stay for us ; but
the remoras and disappointments we met with on the road
had put us so backward in our journey, that, fearing to be too
late at Jerusalem, he set out from Sidon the day before our
arrival there, leaving us, however, some hopes, that if we
made the best of our way we might come up with him at Acra,
where he promised to expect our coming to the latest moment.
March 20. — Being desirous, therefore, not to lose the con-
venience of his company, we set out early the next morning
from Sidon, and, travelling in a very fruitful plain, came in
half an hour to a place where we found a large pillar of gra-
nite lying across the high way, and sunk a good part under
ground. Observing some letters upon it, we took the pains
to dig away the earth, by which means we recovered this frag-
ment of an inscription : —
IMPERATOKES
CAESARES
L SEPTIMUS SE
VERUS PIUS PER
TINAX AUG: ARA
BICUS ADTABENICUS
PARTHICUS MAXI
MUS TRIBUNICIA
PCXES : VI. imp: xi. cos [ ]
PRO . COS . P . P
ET M . aurel: antoni
KUS AUG: FILIUS . EJUS
ET . . . . . ARIA
. . . . EN . , . OIUM . RV
FVM
.... ic PR: praet
. . . PROVING . SYRIAE
TeT PHAE] NIC RENOVAVERUNT
. [ ].
4221 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
Some gentlemen of our nation, in their journey to Jerusa-
lem this last Easter, anno 1699, found another pillar, ahout
midway between the one we saw and Sidon, of the same make
and use, from which they took the aforesaid inscription more
perfectly. As far Sisjilius ejus there is no variation, and after
that it goes on thus : —
VI AS ET MILLIARIA
FR . . . O . VENIDIVMRV
FVM . LEG . AUGG .
li . . . PR . PR^SIDEM
PROVING . SYRIAEPHOE
NIC . RENOVAVERUNT
. I .
By which we may observe the exactness of the Romans in
measuring out their roads, and marking down upon every pil-
lar the number of miles, as I. II. III., &c.
A little beyond this pillar, we passed in sight of Ko-ri-e, a
large village on the side of the mountains, and in two hours
and a half more came to Sarphan, supposed to be the ancient
Sarephath, or Sarepta, so famous for the residence and
miracles of the prophet Elijah. The place shown us for this
city consisted of only a few houses on the tops of the moun-
tains, within about half a mile of the sea ; but it is more
probable the principal part of the city stood below, in the
space between the hills and the sea, there being ruins still to
be seen in that place of considerable extent. From thence,
in three hours, we arrived at Casimeer, a river large and
deep, running down to the sea through a plain, in which it
creeps along with various meanders and turnings. It had
once a good stone bridge laid over it of four arches ; but of
that nothing remains at present except the supporters, be-
tween which there are laid beams and boards to supply the
room of the arches, and to make a passage over ; but so care-
less and loose is the fabric, that it looks like a trap rather
than a bridge. We had one horse dropped through, notwith-
standing our utmost care to prevent such misfortunes ; but it
was our good luck to recover him again, safe on shore.
This river is assigned by our modern geographers for the old
Eleutherus, but how erroneously has been before mentioned.
Strabo mentions a certain river falling into the sea near Tyre,
A.D. 1697.] . TYEE. 423
on this side ^^, which can be no other than this, but he omits
to acquaint us with its name. Within a bow-shot of the river
Casimeer is a khan of the same name, from which, keeping
near the sea-side, you arrive in an hour at Tyre.
This city, standing in the sea upon a peninsula, promises
at a distance something very magnificent; but, when you
come to it, you find no similitude of that glory for which it
w^as so renowned in ancient times, and which the prophet
Ezekiel describes f. On the north side it has an old Turkish
ungarrisoned castle, besides which you see nothing here but a
mei^e Babel of broken walls, pillars, vaults, &c., there being
not so much as one entire house left. Its present inha-
bitants are only a few poor wretches, harbouring themselves
in the vaults, and subsisting chiefly upon fishing, who seem
to be preserved in this place by Divine Providence, as a visible
argument how God has fulfilled his word concerning Tyre,
viz. that it should be as the top of a rock, a place for fishers
to dry their nets on|.
In the midst of the ruins there stands up one pile, higher
than the rest, which is the east end of a great church, probably
of the cathedral of Tyre ; and why not the very same that was
erected by its bishop Paulinus, and honoured with that famous
consecration sermon of Eusebius, recorded by himself§, this
having been an archiepiscopal see in the Christian times ?
I cannot, in this place, omit an observation made by most
of our company in this journey, viz. that in all the ruins of
churches which we saw, though their other parts were totally
demolished, yet the east end we always found standing and
tolerably entire. Whether the Christians, when overrun by
infidels, redeemed their altars from ruin with money ; or
whether even the barbarians, when they demolished the other
parts of the churches, might voluntarily spare these out of an
awe and veneration ; or whether they have stood thus long by
virtue of some peculiar firmness in the nature of their fabric ;
or whether some occult providence has preserved them as so
many standing monuments of Christianity in these unbe-
lieving regions, and presages of its future restoration, I will
not determine. This only I will say, that we found it, in fact,
so as I described in all the ruined churches that came in our
* U^h Tv^u UoTaf/,05 ilintri, p. 521. + Ezek. xxvi, 27, 28.
X Ezek. xxvi. 14. § Eccl. Hist., lib. x. cap. 4.
424 HENRY MAUKDRELL. [a.D. 1697»
way, being perhaps not fewer than one hundred ; nor do I
remember ever to have seen one instance of the contrary.
This might justly seem a trifling observation were it founded
upon a few examples only ; but it being a thing so often, and
indeed universally, observed by us, throughout our whole
journey, I thought it must needs proceed from something
more than blind chance, and might very well deserve this
animadversion.
But to return from this digression, there being an old stair-
case in this ruin last mentioned, I got up to the top of it,
from whence I had an entire prospect of the island, part of
Tyre, of the isthmus, and of the adjacent shore. I thought I
could, from this elevation, discern the isthmus to be a soil of
a different nature from the other two, it lying lower than
either, and being covered all over with sand which the sea
casts upon it as the tokens of its natural right to a passage
there, from which it was, by Alexander the Great, injuriously
excluded. The island of Tyre, in its natural state, seems to
have been of a circular figure, containing not more than forty
acres of ground. It discovers still the foundations of a wall,
which anciently encompassed it round at the utmost margin
of the land. It makes, with the isthmus, two large bays, one
on its north side and the other on its south. These bays are
in part defended from the ocean, each by a long ridge, resem-
bling a mole, stretching directly out, on both sides, from the
head of the island ; but these ridges, whether they were walls
or rocks, whether the work of art or nature, I was too far
distant to discern.
Coming out of these ruins, we saw the foundation of a very
strong wall, running across the neck of land, and serving as
a barrier to secure the city on this side. From this place we
were one-third of an hour in passing the sandy isthmus, before
we came to the ground which we apprehended to be the
natural shore. From hence, passing over part of a very fertile
plain, which extends itself to a vast compass before Tyre, we
arrived, in three quarters of an hour, at Eas-el-ayn. Our whole
stage, from Sidon hither, was about eight hours.
Sunday, March 21. — Ras-el-ayn is a place where are the
cisterns called Solomon's, supposed, according to the common
tradition hereabouts, to have been made by that great king, as
a part of his recompense to king Hiram for the supplies of
materials sent by him toward the building of the temple.
A.D. 1697.] EAS-EL-AYN. 425
They are doubtless very ancient, but yet of a much later date
than what this tradition ascribes to them. That they could
not be built till since Alexander s time may be conjectured
from this, amongst other arguments : because the aqueduct,
which conveys the water from hence to Tyre, is carried over
the neck of land by which Alexander, in his famous siege of
this place, joined the city to the continent ; and, as the cisterns
cannot well be imagined to be more ancient than the aqueduct,
so one may be sure the aqueduct cannot be older than the
ground it stands upon. Of these cisterns there are three
entire at this day, one about a furlong and a half distant from
the sea, the other two a little farther up.
The former is of an octagonal figure, twenty-two yards in
diameter. It is elevated above the ground, nine yards on the
south side and six on the north ; and, within, is said to be of
an unfathomable deepness ; but ten yards of line confuted that
opinion. Its wall is of no better a material than gravel and
small pebbles ; but consolidated with so strong and tenacious
a cement, that it seems to be all one entire vessel of rock.
Upon the brink of it you have a walk round, eight feet broad,
from which, descending by one step on the south side, and by
two on the north, you have another w^alk twenty-one feet
broad. All this structure, though so broad at top, is yet
made hollow, so that the water comes in underneath the
walks, insomuch that I could not, with a long rod, reach the
extremity of the cavity. The whole vessel contains a vast
body of excellent water, and is so well supplied from its
fountain that, though there issues from it a stream like a
brook, driving four mills between this place and the sea, yet
it is always brim full. On the east side of this cistern was
the ancient outlet of the water, by an aqueduct raised about
six yards from the ground, and containing a channel one yard
wide ; but this is now stopped up and dry, the Turks having
broke an outlet on the other side, deriving thence a stream
for grinding their corn.
The aqueduct (now dry) is carried eastward about one hun-
dred and twenty paces, and then approaches the two other
cisterns, of which one is twelve, the other twenty yards
square. These have each a little channel, by which they
anciently rendered their waters into the aqueduct ; and so the
united streams of all the three cisterns were carried together
to Tyre. You may trace out the aqueduct all along by the
426 HENRY MAUNDKELL. [A.D. 1697*
remaining fragments of it. It goes about one hour north-
ward ; and then, turning to the west at a small mount, where
anciently stood a fort, but now a mosque, it proceeds over the
isthmus into the city. As we passed by the aqueduct we ob-
served in several places, on its sides and under its arches,
rugged heaps of matter resembling rocks. These were pro-
duced by the leakage of the water, which petrified as it
distilled from above, and, by the continual adherence of new
matter, were grown to a large bulk. That which w^as most
remarkable in them was the frame and configuration of their
parts. They were composed of innumerable tubes of stone,
of different sizes, cleaving to one another like icicles. Each
tube had a small cavity in its centre, from which its parts
w^ere projected, in form of rays, to the circumference, after
the manner of the stones vulgarly called thunder-stones.
The fountain of these waters is as unknown as the contriver
of them. It is certain, from their rising so high, they must
be brought from some part of the mountains, which are about
a league distant ; and it is as certain that the w^ork was well
done at first, seeing it performs its ofiice so well at so great a
distance of time.
Leaving this pleasant quarter we came, in an hour and a
half, to the white promontory, so called from the aspect it
yields toward the sea. Over this you pass by a way about
two yards broad, cut along its side, from which the prospect
down is very dreadful, by reason of the extreme depth and
steepness of the mountain, and the raging of the waves at
bottom. This way is about odc- third of an hour over, and is
said to have been the work of Alexander the Great. About
one- third of an hour farther you pass by a heap of rubbish,
close by the sea-side, being the ruins of the castle Scandalium,
taking its name from its founder, the same Alexander, whom
the Turks call Scander. The ruin is one hundred and twenty
paces square, having a dry ditch encompassing it ; and from
under it, on the side next the sea, there issues a fountain
of very fair water. In an hour from hence you come to the
sixth caphar, called Nachera ; and in another hour to the plain
of Acra, over a very deep and rugged mountain, supposed to
be part of Mount Saron. All the way from the white pro-
montory to this plain is exceeding rocky ; but here the plea-
santness of the road makes you amends for the former labour.
The plain of Acra (Acre) extends itself, in length, from Mount
A.D. 1697.J ACRE. 427
Saron as far as Carmel, which is at least six good hours ; and
in breadth, between the sea and the mountains, it is in most
places two hours over. It enjoys good streams of water at
convenient distances, and every thing else that might render
it both pleasant and fruitful ; but this delicious plain is now
almost desolate, being suffered, for want of culture, to run up
to rank weeds, which were, at the time when we passed it, as
high as our horses' backs.
Having travelled about one hour in the plain of Acra, we
passed by an old town called Zib, situate on an ascent close
by the sea-side. This may probably be the old Achzib*,
called afterwards Ecdippa ; for St. Jerome places Achzib nine
miles distant from Ptolemais toward Tyre, to which account
we found the situation of Zib exactly agreeing. This is one
of the places out of which the Ashurites could not expel the
Canaanitish natives. Two hours farther we came to a fountain
of very good water, called by the French merchants, at Acra,
the fountain of the blessed Virgin. In one hour more we
arrived at Acra. Our whole stage, from Ras-el-ayn hither, was
about eight hours and a half.
Acra had anciently the name of Accho, and is another of
the places out of which the children of Israel could not drive
the primitive inhabitants!. Being in after times enlarged by
Ptolemy the First, it was called by him, from his own name,
Ptolemais ; but now, since it has been in the possession of the
Turks, it has, according to the example of many other cities
in Turkey, cast off its Greek |, and recovered some semblance
of its old Hebrew name again, being called Acca, or Acra.
This city was for a long time the theatre of contention
between the Christians and infidels, till at last, after having
divers times changed its masters, it was, by a long siege,
finally taken by the Turks, and ruined by them in such a
manner as if they had thought they could never take a full
revenge upon it for the blood it had cost them, or sufficiently
prevent such slaughters for the future. As to its situation, it
enjoys all possible advantages both of sea and land. On its
north and east sides it is compassed with a spacious and fertile
* Mentioned Josh. xix. 29, and Jud. i. 31. + Judges, i. 31.
X Ammianus Marcellinus says the Greek and Roman names of places never
took amongst the natives of this country, which is the reason that most
places retain their first oriental names at this day. — Hist. lib. xiv., nou
ionge ab initio.
428 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697,
plain ; on the west it is washed by the Mediterranean Sea ;
and on the south by a large bay, extending from the city as
far as Mount Carmel.
But notwithstanding all these advantages, it has never
been able to recover itself since its last fatal overthrow ; for,
besides a large khan, in w^hich the French factors have taken
up their quarters, and a mosque, and a few poor cottages, you
see nothing here but a vast and spacious ruin. It is such a
ruin, however, as sufficiently demonstrates the strength of the
place in former times. It appears to have been encompassed,
on the land side, by a double wall, defended with towers at
small distances ; and without the walls are ditches, ramparts,
and a kind of bastions faced with hewn stone. In the fields
without these works we saw, scattered up and down upon the
ground, several large balls of stone, of at least thirteen or
fourteen inches diameter, which were part of the ammunition
used in battering the city, guns being then unknown. Within
the walls there still appear several ruins, which seem to dis-
tinguish themselves from the general heaps by some marks of
a greater strength and magnificence, as, first, those of the
cathedral church, dedicated to St. Andrew, which stands not
far from the sea-side, more high and conspicuous than the
other ruins ; secondly, the church of St. John, the tutelar
saint of this city ; thirdly, the convent of the Knights Hospi-
tallers, a place whose remaining walls sufficiently testify its
ancient strength ; and, not far from the convent, the palace
of the grand master of that order, the magnificence of which
may be guessed from a large staircase and part of a church,
still remaining in it ; fourthly, some remains of a large church
formerly belonging to a nunnery, of which they tell this me-
morable story. The Turks, having pressed this city with a long
and furious siege, at last entered it by storm. May 19, 1291;
in which great extremity the abbess of the nunnery, fearing
lest she, and those under her care, might be forced to submit
to such bestialities as are usual in cases of that deplorable
nature, used this cruel but generous means for securing both
herself and them. She summoned all her fliock together, and
exhorted them to cut and mangle their faces as the only way
to preserve their virgin purity ; and, to show how much she
was in earnest, she immediately began, before them all, to
make herself an example of her own counsel. The nuns were
so animated by this heroical resolution and pattern of the
A.D. 1697.] ACKE. 429
abbess, that they began instantly to follow her example,
cutting off their noses, and disfiguring their faces with such
terrible gashes as might excite horror, rather than lustful
desires, in the beholders, the consequence of which was, that
the soldiers, breaking into the nunnery, and seeing, instead
of those beautiful ladies they expected, such tragical specta-
cles, took a revenge for their disappointed lusts by putting
them all to the sword, thus restoring them, as in charity we
may suppose, to a new and inviolable beauty. But, to go on,
many other ruins here are of churches, palaces, monasteries,
forts, &c., extending for more than half a mile in length, in
all which you may discern marks of so much strength as if
every building in the city had been contrived for war and
defence^.
But that w^hich pleased us most at Acra was to find the
French consul. Monsieur I'Empereur, there, who had been so
generous as to make a halt of two days, in expectation of our
arrival. But he had stayed to the utmost extent of his time,
and therefore resolved to set forward again the next morning.
Our greatest difiiculty was to determine which road to take;
whether that upon the coast by Caesarea and Joppa, or that by
Nazareth ; or a middle way between both the other, over the
plain of Esdraelon.
The cause of this uncertainty was the embroilments and
factions that were then amongst the Arabs, which made us
desirous to keep as far as possible out of the way. It is the
policy of the Turks always to sow divisions amongst these
wild people, by setting up several heads over their tribes,
often deposing the old and placing new ones in their stead,
by w^hich art they create contrary interests and parties amongst
them, preventing them from ever uniting under any one
prince ; which, if they should have the sense to do (being so
numerous and almost the sole inhabitants thereabouts), they
might shake off the Turkish yoke, and make themselves
supreme lords of the country.
But, however useful these discords may be to the Turks in
this respect, yet a stranger is sure to suffer by them, being
* Acre has gained a new celebrity by the events of which it has been the
scene in more recent times. Most of the ruins described 'by Maundrell have
disappeared to make place for modern buildings ; and the population, said to
'have been not more than 300 or 400 in the seventeenth century, is now esti-
mated at above 20,000.
^30 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697,
made a prev to each party according as he happens to come in
their way; avoiding which abases, we resolved to take the
middle way, as the most secure at this time.
March 2'2. — According to which purpose we set out early
the next morning from Acra, having with us a band of
Turkish soldiers for our securer convoy. Our road lay. for
about half an hour, along by the side of the Bay of Acra ; and
then, arriving at the bottom of the bay, we turned southw^ard.
Here we passed a small river which we took to be Belus,
famous for its sand, which is said to be an excellent material
for making glass, as also to have ministered the first occasion
and hint of that invention.
Here we bega,n to decline from the sea-coast, upon which
we had travelled so many days before, and to draw off
more easterly, crossing obliquely over the plain, and in two
good hours v,^e arrived at its farthest side, where it is bounded
by Mount Carmel. Here you find a narrow valley letting you
out of the Plain of Acra into that of Esdraelon. Hereabouts
is the end of the tribe of Asher, and the beginning of that of
Zabulon ; the borders of these two tribes being thus described
in Joshua, xix. 26.
Passing through the narrow valley which makes a com-
munication between the two plains, we arrived in two hours
at that ancient river, the river Kishon ; which cuts its way
down the middle of the Plain of Esdraelon, and then, con-
tinuing its course close by the side of Mount Carmel, falls
into the sea at a place called Caypha. In the condition we
saw it. its waters were low and inconsiderable ; but, in passing
along the side of the plain, we discerned the tracks of many
lesser torrents falling down into it from the mountains, which
must needs make it swell exceedingly upon sudden rains, as
doubtless it actually did at the destruction of Siseras host*.
In three hours and a half from Kishon we came to a small
brook, near which was an old village and a good khan called
Legune, not far from which w^e took up our quarters this
night. From this place we had a large prospect of the Plain
of Esdraelon, which is of a vast extent and very fertile, but
uncultivated ; only serving the Arabs for pasturage. At
about six or seven hours' distance eastward stood within view
Nazareih, and the two mounts, Tabor and Hermon. We were
sufficiently instructed by experience, what the holy psalmist
* Judges, V. 21.
A.D. 1697.J SA.MARIA. 431
means by the dew of Hermon, our tents being as wet with it,
as if it had rained all night. At about a mile's distance from
us was encamped Chibly, emir of the Arabs, with his people
and cattle ; and below, upon the brook Kishon, lay encamped
-another clan of the Arabs, being the adverse party to Chibly.
We had much the less satisfaction in this place, for being
seated in the midst between two such bad neighbours. Our
stage this day was in all eight hours; our course south-east by
south, or thereabout.
March 23. — Leaving this lodging, we arrived in one-third of
an hour at the emir s tents, who came out in person to take
his duties of us. We paid him two caphars^, viz., one of
Lagune, and another of Jeneen, and besides the caphars,
whatever else he v^as pleased to demand. He eased us in
a very courteous manner of some of our coats, which now (the
heat both of the climate and season increasing upon us) began
to grow not only superfluous, but burdensome.
Getting quit of Chibly we turned out of the plain of Es-
draelon, and entered into the precincts of the half- tribe of
Manasses. From hence our road lay for about four hours
through narrow valleys, pleasantly wooded on both sides.
After which, crossing another small fruitful plain, we came in
half an hour to Caphar Arab, where v^e lodged. Our whole
stage exceeded not five hours ; our course being nearly as the
day before.
March 24. — Having paid our caphar, we set out very early
the next morning; and leaving first Arab, and then Rama (two
mountain villages), on the right hand, we arrived in one hour
at a fair fountain called Selee, taking its name from an adja-
cent village. In one hour more we came to Sebasta. Here
you leave the borders of the half-tribe of Manasses, and enter
into those of the tribe of Ephraim.
Sebasta is the ancient Samaria, the imperial city of the ten
tribes, after their revolt from the house of David. It lost its
former name in the time of Herod the Great, who raised it
from a ruined to a most magnificent state, and called it, in
honour of Augustus Caesar, Sebasta. It is situate upon a
long mount of an oval figure, having first a fruitful valley,
and then a ring of hills running round about it. This great
city is now wholly converted into gardens, and all the tokens
* For both caphars, eight per frank, and three per servant.
432 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
that remain to testify that there has ever been such a place,
are only, on the north side, a large square piazza encompassed
with pillars * ; and on the east some poor remains of a great
church, said to have been built by the empress Helena, over
the place where St. John the Baptist was both imprisoned and
beheaded. In the body of the church you go down a stair-
case, into the very dungeon where that holy blood was shed.
The Turks (of whom here are a few poor families) hold this
prison in great veneration, and over it have erected a small
mosque; but for a little piece of money they suffer you to go
in and satisfy your curiosity at pleasure.
Leaving Sebasta, we passed in half an hour by Sherack, and
in another half hour by Barseba, two villages on the right
hand; and then entering into a narrow valley lying east and
west, and watered with a fine rivulet, we arrived in one hour
at Naplosa.
Naplosa is the ancient Sychem, or Sychar, as it is termed
in the New Testament. It stands in a narrow valley between
Mount Gerizim on the south and Ebal on the north, being
built at the foot of the former; for so the situation both of the
city and mountains is laid down by Josephusf. " Gerizim,"
says he, " hangeth over Sychem;" and "Moses commanded
to erect an altar toward the east, not far from Sychem, between
Mount Gerizim on the right hand (that is to one looking
eastward, on the south), and Hebal on the left]: " (that is on
the north); which so plainly assigns the position of these two
mountains, that it may be wondered, how geographers should
come to differ so much about it, or for what reason Adri-
chomius should place them both on the same side of the valley
of Sychem. From Mount Gerizim it was that God com-
manded the blessings to be pronounced upon the children of
Israel, and from Mount Ebal the curses ||. Upon the former,
the Samaritans, whose chief residence is here at Sychem, have
a small temple or place of worship, to which they are still
wont to repair at certain seasons, for performance of the rites
of their religion. What these rites are, I could not certainly
learn ; but that their religion consists in the adoration of a
* Many of the pillars still remain. According to the accounts of modern
travellers, the ruins of Sebaste appear to be more interesting than we might
isuppose from Maundrell's slight notice.
t Antiq. Jud., lib. v. cap. 9. X Ibid., lib. iv. cap. ult.
11 Deut. ii. 29.
A.D. 1697.] OPINIONS OF THE SAMARITANS. 433
calf, as tlie Jews give out, seems to have more of spite than of
truth in it.
Upon one of these mountains also it was that God comr
manded the children of Israel to set up great stones, plastered
over and inscribed with the body of their law; and to erect an
altar and to offer sacrifices, feasting and rejoicing before the
Lord^. But now, w^hether Gerizim or Ebal was the place
appointed for this solemnity, there is some cause to doubt.
The Hebrew Pentateuch, and ours from it, assigns Mount Ebal
for the use, but the Samaritan asserts it to be Gerizim.
Our company halting a little while at Naplosa, I had an
opportunity to go and visit the chief priest of the Samaritans,
in order to discourse with him, about this and some other
difficulties occurring in the Pentateuch, which were recom-
mended to me to be inquired about, by the learned Monsieur
Job Ludolphus, author of the ^thiopic History, when I
visited him at Frankford, in my passage through Germany.
As for the difference between the Hebrew and Samaritan
copy, before cited, the priest pretended the Jews had mali-
ciously altered their text, out of odium to the Samaritans ;
putting for Gerizim Ebal, upon no other account, but only
because the Samaritans worshipped in the former mountain,
which they would have, for that reason, not to be the true
place appointed by God for his worship and sacrifice. To
confirm this, he pleaded that Ebal was the mountain of
cursing!, and in its own nature an unpleasant place; but on
the contrary Gerizim was the mountain of blessing by God s
own appointment, and also in itself fertile and delightful,
from whence he inferred a probability that this latter must
have been the true mountain, appointed for those religious
festivals, and not (as the Jews have corruptly written it) EbaL
We observed that to be in some measure true which he
pleaded concerning the nature of both mountains ; for, though
neither of the mountains has much to boast of as to their
pleasantness, yet, as one passes between them, Gerizim seems
to discover a somewhat more verdant fruitful aspect than Ebal.
The reason of which may be, because, fronting towards the
north, it is sheltered from the heat of the sun by its own
shade; whereas, Ebal looking southward, and receiving the
sun that comes directly upon it, must, by consequence, be
rendered more scorched and unfruitful. The Samaritan priest
* Deut. xxvii. 4, f Deut. xi. 29.
F F
434 ' HENRY MAUNDEELL. [a.D. 1697.
could not say that any of those great stones which God di-
rected Joshua to set up were now to be seen in Mount Geri-
zim, which, were they now extant, would determine the ques-
tion clearly on his side.
I inquired of him next what sort of animal he thought
those selavse might be, which the children of Israel were so
long fed with in the wilderness^. He answered they were a
sort of fowls ; and, by the description which he gave of them,
I perceived he meant the same kind with our quails. J asked
him what he thought of locusts f, and whether the history
might not be better accounted for, supposing them to be the
winged creatures that fell so thick about the camp of Israel?
But by his answer it appeared he had never heard of any
syich hypothesis. Then I demanded of him what sort of
plant or fruit the dudaim or (as we translate it) mandrakes]:
were, which Leah gave to Rachel for the purchase of her
husband's embraces? He said they were plants of a large
leaf, bearing a certain sort of fruit, in shape resembling an
apple growing ripe in harvest, but of an ill savour, and not
wholesome. But the virtue of them was to help conception,
being laid under the genial bed. That the women were often
wont so to apply it at this day, out of an opinion of its prolific
virtue. Of these plants I saw several afterwards in the way
to Jerusalem ; and, if they were so common in Mesopotamia
as we saw them hereabout, one must either conclude that
these could not be the true mandrakes (dudaim), or else it
would puzzle a good critic to give a reason why Rachel
should purchase such vulgar things at so beloved and con-
tested a price.
This priest showed me a copy of the Samaritan Penta-
teuch, but would not be persuaded to part with it upon any
consideration. He had likewise the first volume of the Eng-
lish Polyglot, which he seemed to esteem equally with his
own manuscript.
Naplosa is at present in a very mean condition, in compari-
son of what it is represented to have been anciently. It
consists chiefly of two streets, lying parallel, under Mount
Gerizim ; but it is full of people, and the seat of a pasha.
* Num. xi. f See before, p. 8.
X The mandrake was a very popular object of superstition in the Middle
Ages. The fullest information on the subject will be found in the editor's
Archaeological Album, p. 178.
A.D. 1697.] Jacob's well. 435
Having paid our caphar here, we set forward again in the
evening, and, proceeding in the same narrow valley between
Gerizim and Ebal (not above a furlong broad), we saw on our
right hand, just without the city, a small mosque, said to have
been built over the sepulchre purchased by Jacob of Emmor,
the father of Shechem^^-. It goes by the name of Josephs
Sepulchre, his bones having been here interred after their
transportation out of Egypt f.
At about one third of an hour from Naplosa, we came to
Jacob's Well, famous not only upon account of its author, but
much more for that memorable conference which our blessed
Saviour here had with the woman of Samaria J. If it should
be questioned whether this be the very well that it is pre-
tended for, or no, seeing it may be suspected to stand too
remote from Sychar for women to come so far to draw water,
it is answered, that probably the city extended farther this
way in former times than it does now, as may be conjectured
from some pieces of a very thick wall, still to be seen not far
from hence. Over the well there stood formerly a large church,
erected by that great and devout patroness of the Holy Land,
the empress Helena. But of this the voracity of time,
assisted by the hands of the Turks, has left nothing but a few
foundations remaining. The well is covered at present with
an old stone vault, into which you are let down through a
very straight hole : and, then, removing a broad flat stone,
you discover the mouth of the well itself. It is dug in a firm
rock, and contains about three yards in diameter, and thirty-
five in depth, five of which we found full of water. This con-
futes a story commonly told to travellers who do not take the
pains to examine the well, viz., that it is dry all the year
round, except on the anniversary of that day on which our
blessed Saviour sat upon it, but then bubbles up with abund-
ance of water.
At this well the narrow valley of Sychem ends, opening it-
self into a wide field, which is probably part of that parcel of
ground given by Jacob to his son Joseph. It is watered
with a fresh stream rising between it and Sychem, which
makes it so exceeding verdant and fruitful, that it may well
.be loolved upon as a standing token of the tender affection of
that good patriarch to the best of sons §.
* Gen. xxxiii. 19. f Josh. xxiv. 32. J John it. 5. § Gen. xlviii. 22.
F F S
436 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
From Jacob's well our road went southward, along a very
spacious and fertile valley. Having passed by two villages
on the right hand, one called Howar, the other Sawee, we
arrived in four hours at Khan Leban, and lodged there. Our
whole stage to-day was about eight hours ; our course variable
between east and south.
Khan Leban stands on the east side of a delicious vale,
having a village of the same name standing opposite to it on
the other side of the vale. One of these places, either the
khan or the village, is supposed to have been the Lebonah
mentioned in Judges, xi. 19, to which both the name and
situation seem to agree.
March 25. — From Khan Leban our road lay through a
more mountainous and rocky country, of which we had a spe-
cimen as soon as we were mounted the next morning, our first
task being to climb a very craggy and difficult mountain. In
three quarters of an hour we left, at some distance on the
right hand, a village called Cinga, and in one hour more, w^e
entered into a very narrow valley, between two high rocky
hills, at the farther end of which we found the ruins of a vil-
lage and of a monastery. In this very place, or hereabouts,
Jacob's Bethel is supposed to have been, w^here he had his
stony couch made easy by that beatifying vision of God, and
of the angels ascending and descending, on a ladder reaching
from earth to heaven ^^. Near this place are the limits sepa-
rating between Ephraim and Benjamin f.
From hence we passed through large olive-yards, and having
left first Geeb and then Selwid (two Arab villages) on the
right hand, we came in an hour and a half to an old way cut
with great labour over a rocky precipice, and in one hour
more w^e arrived at Beer. This is the place to which Jona-
than fled from the revenge of his brother Abimelechj. It is
supposed also to be the same with Michmas§.
Beer enjoys a very pleasant situation, on an easy declivity
fronting southward. At the bottom of the hill it has a plen-
tiful fountain of excellent w^ater, from which it has its name.
At its upper side are the remains of an old church built by
the empress Helena in memory of the Blessed Virgin, who,
when she was in search of the child Jesus, as it is related ||,
* Gfen. xxviii. + Josh, xviii. 13. t Judges, ix. 21.
§ 1 Sam. xiv. II Luke, ii. 24.
A.D. 1697.] BARRENNESS OF THE COUNTRY. 437
came (as tradition adds) to this city, and not finding him
whom her soul loved in the company, she sat down weary and
pensive at so sad a disappointment, in the very place where
the church now stands ; but afterwards returning to Jeru-
salem, she had her maternal fears turned into joy, when " she
found him sitting in the Temple amongst the doctors, both
hearing them, and asking them questions."
All along this day's travel from Khan Leban to Beer, and
also as far as we could see around, the country discovered a
quite different face from what it had before, presenting no-
thing to the view, in most places, but naked rocks, mountains,
and precipices ; at sight of which pilgrims are apt to be much
astonished and baulked in their expectations, finding that
country in such an inhospitable condition, concerning whose
pleasantness and plenty they had before formed in their
minds such high ideas from the description given of it in the
Word of God, insomuch that it almost startles their faith,
when they reflect how it could be possible for a land like
this to supply food for so prodigious a number of inhabitants
as are said to have been polled in the twelve tribes at one
time, the number given in by Joab ^ amounting to no less
than thirteen hundred thousand fighting men, besides women
and children. But it is certain that any man who is not a
little biassed to infidelity before, may see, as he passes along,
arguments enough to support his faith against such scruples.
For it is obvious for any one to observe, that these rocks and
hills must have been anciently covered with earth and culti-
vated, and made to contribute to the maintenance of the in-
habitants, no less than if the country had been all plain ;
nay, perhaps much more, forasmuch as such a mountainous
and uneven surface affords a larger space of ground for culti-
vation than this country would amount to if it were all re-
duced to a perfect level.
For the husbanding of these mountains, their manner was
to gather up the stones, and place them in several lines along
the sides of the hills in form of a wall. By such borders they
supported the mould from tumbling, or being washed down,
and formed many beds of excellent soil rising gradually one
above another, from the bottom to the top of the mountains.
Of this form of culture you see evident footsteps, where*
* 2 Sam. 24.
438 HENEY MAUNDEELL. [a.D. 1697.
ever you go, in all the mountains of Palestine. Thus the
very rocks were made fruitful. And perhaps there is no spot
of ground in this whole land that was not formerly improved,
to the production of something or other administering to the
sustenance of human life ; for, than the plain countries, no-
thing can be more fruitful, whether for the production of corn,
or cattle and consequently of milk. The hills, though im-
proper for all cattle except goats, yet being disposed into such
beds as aforesaid described, served very well to bear corn,
melons, gourds, cucumbers, and such like garden stuff, which
makes the principal food of these countries for several months
in the year. The most rocky parts of all, which could not
well be adjusted in that manner for the production of com,
might yet serve for the plantation of vines and olive trees,
which delight to extract, the one its fatness, the other its
sprightly juice, chiefly out of such dry and flinty places. And
the great plain joining to the Dead Sea, which, by reason of
its saltness, might be thought unserviceable both for cattle,
corn, olives, and vines, had yet its proper usefulness for the
nourishment of bees and for the fabric of honey, of which
Josephus gives us his testimony^. And I have reason to
believe it, because, when I was there, I perceived in many
places a smell of honey and wax as strong as if one had been
in an apiary. Why, then, might not this country very well
maintain the vast number of its inhabitants, being in every
part so productive of either milk, corn, wine, oil, or honey,
which are the principal food of these eastern nations, the
constitution of their bodies, and the nature of their clime, in-
clining them to a more abstemious diet than we use in Eng-
land and other colder regions? But I hasten to Jerusalem.
Leaving Beer, we proceeded as before, in a rude stony
country, which yet yielded us the sight of several old ruined
villages. In two hours and one-third we came to the top of
a hill, from whence we had the first prospect of Jerusalem,
Rama, anciently called Gibeah of Saul, being within view on
the right hand, and the plain of Jericho and the mountains
of Gilead on the left. In one hour more we approached the
walls of the holy city; but we could not enter immediately, it
being necessary first to send a messenger to acquaint the
governor of our arrival, and to desire liberty of entrance,
* De Ben. Jud., lib. v. c. 4.
A.D. 1697.] AKRIVAL AT JERUSALEM 439
without which preceding ceremony no Frank dares come
within the walls. We therefore passed along by the west side
of the city, and coming to the corner above Bethlehem gate,
made a stop there, in order to expect the return of our mes-
senger. We had not waited above half an hour, when he
brought us our permission, and we entered accordingly at
Bethlehem gate. It is required of all Franks, unless they
happen to come in with some public minister, to dismount
at the gate, to deliver their arms, and enter on foot ; but we,
coming in company with the French consul, had the privilege
to enter mounted and armed. Just within the gate, we turned
up a street on the left hand, and were conducted by the consul
to his own house, with most friendly and generous invitations
to make that our home as long as we should continue at
Jerusalem. Having taken a little refreshment, we went to
the Latin convent, at which all Frank pilgrims are wont to
be entertained. The guardian and friars received us with
many kind welcomes, and kept us with them at supper, after
which we returned to the French consul's to bed. And thus
we continued to take our lodging at the consul's, and our
board with the friars, during our whole stay at Jerusalem.
March 26. — The next day, being Good-Friday in the Latin
st^de, the consul was obliged to go into the Church of the Se-
pulchre, in order to keep his feast, whither we accompanied
him, although our own Easter was not till a week after theirs.
We found the church doors guarded by several Janizaries, and
other Turkish officers, who are placed here to watch that
none enter in but such as have first paid their appointed
caphar. This is more or less according to the country or the
character of the persons that enter. For Franks it is ordi-
narily fourteen dollars per head, unless they are ecclesiastics,
for in that case it is but half so much.
Having once paid this caphar, you may go in and out gratis
as often as you please during the whole feast, provided you
take the ordinary opportunities in which it is customary to
open the doors ; but if you would have them opened at any
time out of the common course, purposely for your own private
occasion, then the first expense must be paid again.
The pilgrims being all admitted this day, the church doors
were locked in the evening, and opened no more till Easter-
day, by which we were kept in a close, but very happy con-
finement, for three days. We spent our time in viewing th^
i40 HENRY MAUNDKELL. [a.D. 1697c
ceremonies practised by the Latins at this festival, and in
visiting the several holy places, all which we had opportunity
to survey, with as much freedom and deliberation as we
pleased.
And now, being got under the sacred roof, and having the
advantage of so much leisure and freedom, I might expatiate
in a large description of the several holy places which this
church (as a cabinet) contains in it ; but this would be a super-
fluous prolixity, so many pilgrims having discharged this office
with so much exactness already, and especially our learned
sagacious countryman Mr. Sandys, whose descriptions and
draughts, both of this church and also of the other remark-
able places in and about Jerusalem, must be acknowledged so
faithful and perfect, that they leave very little to be added by
aftercomers, and nothing to be corrected. I shall content
myself, therefore, to relate only what passed in the church
during this festival, saying no more of the church itself than
just what is necessary to make my account intelligible.
The church of the Holy Sepulchre is founded upon Mount
Calvary, which is a small eminence or hill upon the greater
Mount Moriah. It was anciently appropriated to the execution
of malefactors, and therefore shut out of the walls of the city
as an execrable and polluted place ; but since it was made the
altar on which was offered up the precious and all sufficient
sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, it has recovered itself
from that infamy, and has been always reverenced and re-
sorted to with such devotion by all Christians, that it has at-
tracted the city around about it, and stands now in the midst
of Jerusalem, a great part of the hill of Sion being shut out
of the walls to make room for the admission of Calvary.
In order to the fitting of this hill for the foundation of a
church, the first founders were obliged to reduce it to a plain
area, which they did by cutting down several parts of the
rock, and by elevating others; but, in this work, care was
taken that none of those parts of the hill which were reckoned
to be more immediately concerned in our blessed Lords
passion should be altered or diminished. Thus that very part
of Calvary where they say Christ was fastened to, and lifted
upon, his cross, is left entire, being about ten or twelve yards
square, and standing, at this day, so high above the cognmon
floor of the church, that you have twenty-one steps or stairs
to go up to its top ; and the holy sepulchre itself, which was
A.D. 1697.] CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEl>ULCHRE. 441
iat first a cave hewn into the rock under ground, having had
the rock cut away from it all round, is now, as it were, a grotto
above ground.
The church is less than one hundred paces long, and not
more than sixty wide ; and yet is so contrived that it is
supposed to contain under its roof twelve or thirteen sanc-
tuaries, or places consecrated to a more than ordinary venera-
tion, by being reputed to have some particular actions done in
them relating to the death and resurrection of Christ. As,
first, the place where he was derided by the soldiers; secondly,
w^here the soldiers divided his garments ; thirdly, where he
was shut up whilst they digged the hole to set the foot of the
cross in, and made all ready for his crucifixion; fourthly,
where he was nailed to the cross ; fifthly, where the cross was
erected ; sixthly, where the soldier stood that pierced his side ;
seventhly, where his body was anointed in order to his burial ;
eighthly, where his body was deposited in the sepulchre ;
ninthly, where the angels appeared to the w^omen after his
resurrection : tenthly, where Christ himself appeared to Mary
Magdalen, &c. The places where these and many other
things relating to our blessed Lord are said to have been
done, are all supposed to be contained within the narrow pre-
cincts of this church, and are all distinguished and adorned
with so many several altars.
In galleries round about the church, and also in little
buildings annexed to it on the outside, are certain apartments
for the reception of friars and pilgrims ; and in these places
almost every Christian nation anciently maintained a small
society of monks, each society having its proper quarter
assigned to it by the appointment of the Turks, such as the
Latins, Greeks, Syrians, Armenians, Abyssinians, Georgians,
Nestorians, Cophtites, Maronites, &c., all which had anciently
their several apartments in the church ; but these have all,
except four, forsaken their quarters, not being able to sustain
the severe rents and extortions which their Turkish landlords
impose upon them. The Latins, Greeks, Armenians, and
Cophtites keep their footing still ; but of these four the
Cophtites have now only one poor representative of their
nation left ; and the Armenians are run so much in debt that
it is supposed they are hastening apace to follow the examples
of their brethren, who have deserted before them.
Besides their several apartments, each fraternity have their
442 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
altars and sanctuary, properly and distinctly allotted to their
own use, at which places they have a peculiar right to perform
their own divine service, and to exclude other nations from
them.
But that which has always been the great prize contended
for by the several sects is the command and appropriation of
the holy sepulchre, a privilege contested with so much un-
christian fury and animosity, especially between the Greeks
and Latins, that, in disputing w^hich party should go into it to
celebrate their mass, they have sometimes proceeded to blows
and wounds even at the very door of the sepulchre, mingling
their own blood with their sacrifices^ an evidence of which
fury the father guardian showed us in a great scar upon his
arm, w^hich he told us w^as the mark of a wound given him by
a sturdy Greek priest in one of these unholy wars. Who can
expect ever to see these holy places rescued from the hands
of infidels ? Or, if they should be recovered, what deplorable
contests might be expected to follow about them, seeing,
even in their present state of captivity, they are made the
occasion of such unchristian rage and animosity.
For putting an end to these infamous quarrels, the French
king interposed, by a letter to the grand vizer, about twelve
years since, requesting him to order the holy sepulchre to be
put into the hands of the Latins, according to the tenor of the
capitulation made in the year ] 673, the consequence of which
letter, and of other instances made by the French king, w^as
that the holy sepulchre was appropriated to the Latins. This
was not accomplished till the year 1690, they alone having
the privilege to say mass in it ; and though it be permitted to
Christians of all nations to go into it for their private devo-
tions, yet none may solemnize any public office of religion
there but the Latins.
The daily employment of these recluses is to trim the
lamps, and to make devotional visits and processions to the
several sanctuaries in the church. Thus they spend their
time, many of them for four or six years together ; nay, so far
are some transported with the pleasing contemplations in
which they here entertain themselves, that they will never
come out to their dying day, burying themselves (as it were)
alive in our Lord's grave.
The Latins, of whom there are always about ten or twelve
residing at the church, with a president over them, make
A.B. 1697.] CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 443
every day a solemn procession, with tapers and crucifixes, and
other processionary solemnities, to the several sanctuaries,
singing at every one of them a Latin hymn relating to the
Subject of each place. These Latins being more polite and
exact in their functions than the other monks here residing,
and also our conversation being chiefly with them, I will only
describe their ceremonies, without taking notice of what was
done by others, which did not so much come under our ob-
servation.
Their ceremony begins on Good Friday night, which is
called by them the nox tenehrosa, and is observed with such an
extraordinary solemnity that I cannot omit to give a particular
description of it.
As soon as it grew dusk, all the friars and pilgrims were
convened in the chapel of the apparition (which is a small
oratory on the north side of the holy grave, adjoining to the
apartments of the Latins), in order to go in a procession round
the church ; but, before they set out, one of the friars preached
a sermon in Italian in that chapel. He began his discourse
thus : *' In questa notte tenebrosa," &c., at which words all
the candles were instantly put out, to yield a livelier image
of the occasion ; and so we were held by the preacher for near
half an hour, very much in the dark. Sermon being ended,
every person present had a large lighted taper put into his
hand, as if it were to make amends for the former darkness ;
and the crucifixes and other utensils were disposed in order
for beginning the procession. Amongst the other crucifixes
there was one of a very large size, which bore upon it the
image of our Lord, as big as the life. The image was fastened
to it with great nails, crowned with thorns, besmeared with
blood ; and so exquisitely was it formed, that it represented
in a very lively manner the lamentable spectacle of our Lord's
body as it hung upon the cross. This figure was carried all
along in the head of the procession, after which the company
followed to all the sanctuaries in the church, singing their
appointed hymn at every one.
The first place they visited was that of the pillar of flagella-
tion, a large piece of which is kept in a little cell just at the door
of the chapel of the apparition. There they sung their proper
hymn ; and another friar entertained the company with a
sermon in Spanish, touching the scourging of our Lord.
From hence they proceeded in solemn order to the prison
444 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
of Christ, "wliere they pretend he was secured whilst the
soldiers made things ready for his crucifixion. Here, likewise,
they sung their hymn, and a third friar preached in French.
From the prison they went to the altar of the division of
Christ's garments, where they only sung their hymn, without
adding any sermon. Having done here, they advanced to the
chapel of the derision, at which, after their hymn, they had a
fourth sermon (as I remember) in French.
From this place they went up to Calvary, leaving their
shoes at the bottom of the stairs. Here are two altars to be
visited, one where our Lord is supposed to have been nailed
to his cross, another where his cross was erected. At the
former of these they laid down the great crucifix (which I but
now described) upon the floor, and a,cted a kind of a resem-
blance of Christ's being nailed to the cross ; and after the
hymn one of the friars preached another sermon, in Spanish,
upon the crucifixion.
From hence they removed to the adjoining altar, where
the cross is supposed to have been erected, bearing the image
of our Lord's body. At this altar is a hole in the natural
rock, said to be the very same individual one in which the
foot of our Lord's cross stood. Here they set up their cross,
with the bloody crucified image upon it ; and, leaving it in
that posture, they first sung their hymn, and then the father
guardian, sitting in a chair before it, preached a passion-
sermon in Italian.
At about one yard and a half distance from the hole in
which the foot of the cross was fixed, is seen that memorable
cleft in the rock, said to have been made by the earthquake
which happened at the suffering of the God of Nature, when
(as St. Matthew witnesseth^) "the rocks rent, and the very
graves were opened." This cleft, as to what now appears
of it, is about a span wide at its upper part, and two deep,
after which it closes ; but it opens again below, as you may
see in another chapel contiguous to the side of Calvary, and
runs down to an unknown depth in the earth. That this rent
was made by the earthquake that happened at our Lord's
passion, there is only tradition to prove ; but that it is a
natural and genuine breach, and not counterfeited by any art,
the sense and reason of every one that sees it may convince
* Matt, xxvii. 51.
A.D. 1697.] CHURCH OF THE HOLT SEPULCHRE. 445
him ; for the sides of it fit Uke two tallies to each other, and
yet it runs in such intricate windings as could not well be
counterfeited by art, nor arrived at by any instruments.
The ceremony of the passion being over, and the guardian's
sermon ended, tw^o friars, personating the one Joseph of
Arimathea, the other Nicodemus, approached the cross, and,
with a most solemn and concerned air, both of aspect and be-
haviour, drew out the great nails, and took down the feigned
body from the cross. It was an effigy so contrived that its
limi3S were soft and flexible, as if they had been real flesh ;
and nothing could be more surprising than to see the two
pretended mourners bend down the arms, which were before
extended, and dispose them upon the trunk in such a manner
as is usual in corpses.
The body, being taken down from the cross, was received in
a fair, large winding sheet, and carried down from Calvary,
the whole company attending as before, to the stone of
unction. This is taken for the very place where the precious
body of our Lord was anointed and prepared for the burial-!^.
Here they laid down their imaginary corpse, and casting over
it several sweet powders and spices, wrapped it up in the
winding sheet. Whilst this was doing they sung their
proper hymn ; and afterwards one of the friars preached, in
Arabic, a funeral sermon.
These obsequies being finished, they carried ofi" their fancied
corpse and laid it in the sepulchre, shutting up the door till
Easter morning ; and now, after so many sermons and so
long, not to say tedious, a ceremony, it may well be imagined
that the weariness of the congregation, as well as the hour of
the night, made it needful to go to rest.
March 27. — The next morning nothing extraordinary passed,
which gave many of the pilgrims leisure to have their arms
marked with the usual ensigns of Jerusalem. The artists who
undertake the operation do it in this manner. They have
stamps in wood of any figure that you desire, which they first
print off" upon your arm with powder of charcoal ; then, taking
two very fine needles tied close together, and dipping them
often, like a pen, in certain ink, compounded, as I was in-
formed, of gunpowder and ox-gall, they make with them small
punctures all along the lines of the figure which they have
* John, xix. 39.
446 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
printed, and then, washing the part in wine, conclude the work.
These punctures they make with great quickness and dex-
terity, and with scarce any smart, seldom piercing so deep as
to draw blood.
In the afternoon of this day, the congregation was assem-
bled in the area before the holy grave, where the friars spent
some hours in singing over the lamentations of Jeremiah,
which function, with the usual procession to the holy places,
was all the ceremony of this day.
Sunday, March 28. — On Easter morning the sepulchre was
again set open very early. The clouds of the former morning
were cleared up, and the friars put on a face of joy and
serenity, as if it had been the real juncture of our Lord's
resurrection ; nor doubtless was this joy feigned, whatever their
mourning might be, this being the day in which their Lenten
discipline expired, and they were come to a full belly again.
The mass was celebrated this morning just before the holy
sepulchre, being tbe most eminent place in the church, where
the father guardian had a throne erected, and being arrayed
in episcopal robes, with a mitre on his head, in the sight of
the Turks, he gave the host to all that were disposed to
receive it, not refusing children of seven or eight years of
age. This office being ended, we made our exit out of the
sepulchre, and returning to the convent, dined with the
friars.
After dinner, we took an opportunity to go and visit some
of the remarkable places without the city walls ; we began
with those on the north side.
The first place we were conducted to was a large grotto, a
little without the Damascus gate, said to have been some
time the residence of Jeremiah. On the left side of it is
shown the prophet's bed, being a shelf on the rock, about
eight feet from the ground ; and not far from this is the place
where they say he wrote his Lamentations. This place is at
present a college of dervises, and is held in great veneration
by the Turks and Jews, as well as Christians.
The next place we came to was those famous grottoes called
the Sepulchres of the Kings, but for what reason they go by
that name is hard to resolve ; for it is certain none of the
kings, either of Israel or Judah, were buried there, the Holy
Scriptures assigning other places for their sepulchres, unless
it may be thought, perhaps, that Hezekiah was here interred,
A.D. 1697.] SEPULCHRES OF THE KINGS. 447
and that these were the sepulchres of the sons of David, men-
tioned in 2 Chron. xxx. 33. Whoever was huried here, this
is certain, that the place itself discovers so great an expense,
both of labour and treasure, that we may well suppose it to
have been the work of kings. You approach to it at the east
side, through an entrance cut out of the natural rock, which
admits you into an open court of about forty paces square,
cut down into the rock with which it is encompassed instead
of walls. On the south side of the court is a portico nine
paces long and four broad, hewn likewise out of the natural
rock. This has a kind of architrave running along its front,
adorned with sculpture of fruits and flowers, still discernible,
but by time much defaced. At the end of the portico on the
left hand you descend to the passage into the sepulchres.
The door is now so obstructed with stones and rubbish, that
it is a thing of some difficulty to creep through it. But
within, you arrive in a large fair room, about seven or eight
yards square, cut out of the natural rock. Its sides and ceil-
ing are so exactly square, and its angles so just, that no archi-
tect with levels and plummets could build a room more regu-
lar ; and the whole is so firm and entire, that it may be called
a chamber hollowed out of one piece of marble. From this
room you pass into (I think) six more, one within another, all
of the same fabric with the first. Of these the two inner-
most are deeper than the rest, having a second descent of
about six or seven steps into them.
In every one of these rooms, except the first, were coffins
of stone placed in niches in the sides of the chambers. They
had been at first covered with handsome lids, and carved with
garlands, but now most of them were broke to pieces by sa-
crilegious hands. The sides and ceiling of the room were
always dropping with the moist damps condensing upon
them; to remedy which nuisance, and to preserve these
chambers of the dead dry and clean, there was in each room
a small channel cut in the floor, which served to drain the
drops that fall constantly into it.
But the most surprising thing belonging to these subter-
raneous chambers was their doors, of which there is only one
that remains hanging, being left, as it were, on purpose to
puzzle the beholders. It consisted of a plank of stone of
about six inches in thickness, and in its other dimensions
equalling the size of an ordinary door, or somewhat less. It
448 HENRY MAUNDRELL [A.D. 1697.
was carved in such a manner as to resemble a piece of wain-
scot. The stone of which it was made was visibly of the
same kind with the whole rock, and it turned upon two hinges
in the nature of axles. These hinges were of the same
entire piece of stone with the door, and were contained in
two holes of the immoveable rock, one at the top, the other
at the bottom.
From this description it is obvious to start a question, — how
such doors as these were made, whether they were cut out of
the rock in the same place and manner as they now hang, or
whether they were brought and fixed in their station like
other doors ? One of these must be supposed to have been
done ; and which soever part we choose as most probable, it
seems at first glance to be not without its difficulty. But thus
much I have to say, for the resolving of this riddle (which is
wont to create no small dispute amongst pilgrims), viz., that
the door which was left hanging did not touch its lintel by at
least two inches, so that I believe it might easily have been
lifted up and unhinged ; and the doors which had been thrown
down had their hinges at the upper end twice as long as those
at the bottom, which seems to intimate pretty plainly by what
method this work was accomplished.
From these sepulchres we returned toward the city again,
and, just by Herod's gate, were shown a grotto full of filthy
water and mire. This passes for the dungeon in which Jere-
miah was kept by Zedekiah, till enlarged by the charity of
Ebed Melech*. At this place we concluded our visits for
that evening.
March 29. — The next day being Easter-Monday, the moso-
lem, or governor of the city, set out, according to custom, with
several bands of soldiers to convey the pilgrims to Jordan.
Without this guard there is no going thither, by reason of the
multitude and insolence of the Arabs in these parts. The
fee to the mosolem for his company and soldiers upon this
occasion is twelve dollars for each Frank pilgrim, but if they
be ecclesiastics, six, which you must pay whether you are
disposed to go the journey or stay in the city. We went out
at St. Stephen s gate, being in all, of every nation and sex,
about two thousand pilgrims. Having crossed the Valley of
Jehoshaphat, and part of Mount Olivet, we came in half an
* Jer. xxxviii.
A.D. 1697.] BETHANY. 449
hour to Bethany, at present only a small village. At the
first entrance into it is an old ruin which they call Lazarus 's
Castle, supposed to have been the mansion-house of that
favourite of our Lord. At the bottom of a small descent,
not far from the castle, is shown the sepulchre out of which
he was raised to a second mortality, by that enlivening voice
of Christ, " Lazarus, come forth." You descend into the
sepulchre by twenty-five steep stairs, at the bottom of which
you arrive first in a small square room, and from thence you
creep down into another lesser room, about a yard and a half
deeper, in which the body is said to have been laid. This
place is held in great veneration by the Turks, who use it for
an oratory, and demand of all Christians a small caphar for
their admission into it.
About a bow-shot from thence, you pass by the place which
they say was Mary Magdalen's habitation, and then, descending
a steep hill, you come to the fountain of the Apostles; so
called because, as the tradition goes, those holy persons were
wont to refresh themselves here in their frequent travels
between Jerusalem and Jericho. And indeed it is a thing
very probable, and no more than I believe is done by all that
travel this way, the fountain being close by the road-side, and
very inviting to the thirsty passenger.
From this place you proceed in an intricate way amongst
hills and valleys interchangeably, all of a very barren aspect
at present, but discovering evident signs of the labour of the
husbandman in ancient times. After some hours' travel in
this sort of road, you arrive at the mountainous desert into
which our blessed Saviour was led by the Spirit to be tempted
by the devil. A most miserable, dry, barren place it is, con-
sisting of high rocky mountains, so torn and disordered, as if
the earth had here suffered some great convulsion, in which
its very bowels had been turned outwards. On the left hand,
looking down in a deep valley as we passed along, we saw
some ruins of small cells and cottages, which they told us
were formerly the habitations of hermits retiring thither for
penance and mortification ; and certainly there could not be
found in the whole earth a more comfortless and abandoned
place for that purpose. From the top of these hills of deso-
lation, we had, however, a delightful prospect of the moun-
tains of Arabia, the Dead Sea, and the Plain of Jericho, into
which last place we descended, after about five hours' march
O G
450 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
from Jerusalem. As soon as we entered the plain, we turned
up on the left hand, and going about one hour that way, came
to the foot of the Quarantania, which they say is the moun-
tain into which the devil took our blessed Saviour, when he
tempted him with that visionary scene of all the kingdoms
and glories of the world. It is, as St. Matthew styles it, an
exceeding high mountain, and in its ascent not only difficult,
but dangerous. It has a small chapel at the top, and another
about half way up, founded upon a prominent part of the rock.
Near this latter are several caves and holes in the side of the
mountain, made use of anciently by hermits, and by some at
this day, for places to keep their Lent in, in imitation of that
of our blessed Saviour. In most of these grottoes we found
certain Arabs quartered, with fire-arms, who obstructed our
ascent, demanding two hundred dollars for leave to go up the
mountain. So we departed without farther trouble, not a
little glad to have so good an excuse for not climbing so dan-
gerous a precipice.
Turning down from thence into the plain, we passed by a
ruined aqueduct, and a convent in the same condition, and in
about a mile's riding came to the fountain of Elisha, so called
because miraculously purged from its brackishness by the
prophet, at the request of the men of Jericho -i^. Its waters
are at present received in a basin about nine or ten paces long
and five or six broad, and from thence, issuing out in great
plenty, divide themselves into several small streams, dis-
persing their refreshment to all the field between this and
Jericho, and rendering it exceedingly fruitful. Close by the
fountain grows a large tree spreading into boughs over the
water, and here, in the shade, we took a collation with the
^father guardian, and about thirty or forty friars more, who
went this journey with us.
At about one-third of an hour's distance from hence is
Jericho, at present only a poor nasty village of the Arabs.
We were here carried to see a place where Zaccheus's house
is said to have stood, which is only an old square stone build-
ing, on the south side of Jericho. About two furlongs from
hence, the mosolem, with his people, had encamped ; and not
far from them we took up our quarters this night.
March 30. — The next morning we set out very early for
* 2 Kings, ii. 19.
A.D. 1697.] THE JORDAN. 451
Jordan, where we arrived in two hours. We found the plain
very barren as we passed along it, producing nothing but a
kind of samphire, and other such marine plants. I observed
in many places of the road, where puddles of water had stood,
a whiteness upon the surface of the ground, which upon
trial I found to be a crust of salt, caused by the water to rise
out of the earth, in the same manner as it does every year
in the valley of salt near Aleppo, after the winter s inunda-
tion. These saline efflorescences I found at some leagues
distance from the Dead Sea, which demonstrates that the
whole valley must be all over plentifully impregnated with
that mineral.
Within about a furlong of the river, at that place where w^e
visited it, there was an old ruined church and convent, dedi-
cated to St. John, in memory of the baptizing of our blessed
Lord. It is founded as near as could be conjectured to the
very place where he had the honour to perform that sacred
office, and to w^ash Him who was infinitely purer than the
w^ater itself. On the farther side of the aforementioned con-
vent there runs along a small descent, which you may fitly
call the first and outermost bank of Jordan ; as far as which
it may be supposed the river does, or at least did anciently,
overflow at some seasons of the year, viz., at the time of
harvest '-i^; or, as it is expressed, Chron. xii. 1., in the first
month, that is in March. But at present (whether it be because
the river has, by its rapidity of current, worn its channel deeper
than it was formerly, or w^hether because its waters are diverted
some other way,) it seems to have forgot its ancient greatness ;
for we could discern no sign or probability of such overflow-
ings when we were there, which was the thirtieth of March,
being the proper time for these inundations. Nay, so far was
the river from overflowing, that it ran at least tw^o yards below
the brink of its channel.
After having descended the outermost bank, you go about a
furlong upon a level strand before you come to the immediate
bank of the river. This second bank is so beset with bushes
and trees, such as tamarisk, wdllows, oleanders, &g., that you
can see no water till you have made your way through them.
In this thicket anciently (and the same is reported of it at
this day) several sorts of wild beasts are wont to harbour
themselves; whose being washed out of the covert by the
* Josh. iii. 15.
G G 2
452 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
overflowings of the river, gave rise to that allusion, *' He
shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan."*
No sooner were we arrived at the river, and dismounted, in
order to satisfy that curiosity and devotion which brought us
hither, but w^e w^ere alarmed by some troops of Arabs appear-
ing on the other side and firing at us, but at too great a
distance to do any execution. This intervening disturbance
hindered the friars from performing their service prescribed
for this place, and seemed to put them in a terrible fear of
their lives, beyond what appeared in the rest of the company;
though, considering the sordidness of their present con-
dition, and the extraordinary rewards w^hich they boast to be
their due in the world to come, one would think, in reason,
they of all men should have the least cause to discover so
great a fear of death, and so much fondness of a life like
theirs.
But this alarm was soon over, and every one returned to
his former purpose ; some stripped and bathed themselves in
the river, others cut down boughs from the trees, every man
was employed one way or other to take a memorial of this
famous stream. The water was very turbid, and too rapid to
be sw^am against. For its breadth, it might be about twenty
yards over ; and in depth it far exceeded my height. On the
other side there seemed to be a much larger thicket than on
that where we were, but we durst not swim over to take any
certain account of that region for fear of the Arabs, there
being three guns fired just over against us, and (as we might
guess by tbeir reports) very near the river.
Having finished our design here, we were summoned to
return by the mosolem, who carried us back to the middle of
the plain; and there, sitting under his tent, made us pass
before him, man by man, to the end he might take the more
exact account of us, and lose nothing of his caphar. We
seemed at this place to be near the Dead Sea, and some of us
had a great desire to go nearer, and take a view of those
prodigious waters. But this could not be attempted without
the licence of our commander-in-chief. We therefore sent to
request his permission for our going, and a guard to attend
us, both which he readily granted, and we immediately prose-
cuted our purpose.
Coming within about half an hour of the sea, we found the
* Jerem. xlix. 19, and 1. 44. See before, p. 21.
A.D. 1697.] THE DEAD SEA. 453
ground uneven, and varied into hillocks, much resembling
those places in England where there have been anciently
lime-kilns. Whether these might be the pits at which the
kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown by the four
kings*, I will not determine.
Coming near the sea, we passed through a kind of coppice,
of bushes and reeds ; in the midst of \^4iich our guide, who
was an Arab, showed us a fountain of fresh water, rising not
above a furlong from the sea ; fresh water he called it, but
we found it brackish.
The Dead Sea is inclosed on the east and west with ex-
ceeding high mountains ; on the north it is bounded by the
plain of Jericho, on which side also it receives the waters of
Jordan. On the south it is open, and extends beyond the reach
of the eye. It is said to be twenty- four leagues long, and six
or seven broad.
On the shore of the lake we found a black sort of pebble,
which being held in the flame of a candle soon burns^ and
yields a smoke of an intolerable stench. It has this property,
that it loses only of its weight, but not of its balk by burning.
The hills bordering upon the lake are said to abound with
this sort of sulphureous stone. I saw pieces of it at the
convent of St. John, in the wilderness, two feet square.
-They were carved in basso relievo, and polished to as great a
lustre as black marble is capable of, and were designed for the
ornament of the new church at the convent.
It is a common tradition, that birds attempting to fly over
this sea drop down dead into it ; and that no fish, nor other
sort of animal, can endure these deadly waters. The former
report I saw actually confuted, by several birds flying about
and over the sea without any visible harm ; the latter also 1
have some reason to suspect as false, having observed amongst
the pebbles on the shore two or three shells of fish re-
sembling oyster-shells. These were cast up by the waves, at
two hours' distance from the mouth of Jordan ; which I men-
tion, lest it should be suspected that they might be brought
into the sea that way.
As for the bitumen, for which the sea had been so famous,
there was none at the place where we were. But it is
gathered near the mountains on both sides in great plenty.
I had several lumps of it brought me from Jerusalem. It
* Gren. xiv. 10.
454 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
exactly resembles pitch, and cannot readily be distinguished
from it, but by the sulphureousness of its smell and taste.
The water of the lake was very limpid, and salt to the
highest degree ; and not only salt, but also extremely bitter
and nauseous. Being willing to make an experiment of its
strength, I w^ent into it, and found it bore up my body in
swimming with uncommon force. But as for that relation of
some authors, that men wading into it were buoyed up to the
top, as soon as they go as deep as the navel, I found it, upon
experiment, not true.
Being desirous to see the remains (if there were any) of
those cities anciently situate in this place, and made so
dreadful an example of the divine vengeance, I diligently
surveyed the waters as far as my eye could reach ; but neither
could I discern any heaps of ruins, nor any smoke ascending
above the surface of the water, as is usually described in the
writings and maps of geographers. But yet I must not omit
what was confidently attested to me by the father guardian
and procurator of Jerusalem, both men in years, and seem-
ingly not destitute either of sense or probity; viz., that they
had once actually seen one of these ruins ; that it was so near
the shore, and the waters so shallow at that time, that they,
together with some Frenchmen, went to it, and found there
several pillars and other fragments of buildings. The cause
of our being deprived of this sight was, I suppose, the height
of the water.
On the west side of the sea is a small promontory, near
which, as our guides told us, stood the monument of Lot's
metamorphosed wife ; part of which (if they may be credited)
is visible at this day. But neither would the present occa-
sion permit us to go and examine the truth of this relation,
nor, had the opportunity served, could we give faith enough to
their report to induce us to go on such an errand.
As for the apples of Sodom, so much talked of, I neither
saw nor heard of any hereabouts ; nor was there any tree to
be seen near the lake from which one might expect such a
kind of fruits, which induces me to believe that there may
be a greater deceit in this fruit than that which is usually
reported of it ; and that its very being as well as its beauty is
a fiction, only kept up, as my Lord Bacon observes many
* Tacit. Hist, lib. v. ; Joseph. Bell. Jud., lib. v. cap. 5.
A.D. 1697.] BETHLEHEM. 455
other false notions are, because it serves for a good allusion,
and helps the poet to a similitude.
In our return from the Dead Sea, at about one hour's
distance from it, we came to an old ruined Greek convent.
There was good part of the church remaining, with several
pieces of painting entire ; as the figures of several Greek
saints, and over the altar the representation of our Lord's Last
Supper, with this text of Holy Writ fairly inscribed Aoc^zrs
cpoiysTs, &c. Hereabout, and also in many other places of the
plain, I perceived a strong scent of honey and wax (the sun
being very hot) ; and the bees were very industrious about
the blossoms of that salt weed which the plain produces. In
about an hour and a half more we returned to our tents and
company, at the same place where we slept the night before ;
and there we spent this night also.
Amongst the products of this place I saw a very remark-
able fruit, called by the Arabs Za-cho-ne. It grows upon a
thorny bush, with small leaves ; and both in shape and colour
resembles a small unripe walnut. The kernels of this fruit
the Arabs bray in a mortar, and then, putting the pulp into
scalding water, they skim off an oil which rises to the top.
This oil they take inwardly for bruises, and apply it out-
wardly to green wounds, preferring it before balm of Gilead.
I procured a bottle of it, and have found it upon some small
trials a very healing medicine. The roses of Jericho were
not to be found at this season.
March 31. — This morning we all decamped at half an hour
after two, and returning the same way by which we came,
arrived in about six hours near the walls of Jerusalem. Our
company did not think fit to enter the city, resolving to go
immediately to Bethlehem ; in order to which we turned
down into the valley of Jehoshaphat ; and so, passing by the
city, instantly took the road to the place intended.
From Jerusalem to Bethlehem is but two hours' travel.
The country through which the road lies is the valley of
Rephaim, as may be gathered from Josephus--, a valley so
famous for being the theatre of David's victories against the
Philistines f. In the road you meet with these following-
remarkable places : first, a place said to be the house of
Simeon, that venerable old prophet who, taking our blessed
Saviour in his arms, sung his nunc dimittis in the temple;
* Ant., lib. iv. cap. 10. f 2 Sam. v. 23.
456 HENRY MAUNDREIX. [a.D. 1697.
secondly, the famous turpentine tree, in tlie shade of which
the blessed Virgin is said to have reposed when she was
carrying Christ in her arms to present him to the Lord at
Jerusalem; thirdly, a convent dedicated to St. Elias, the
impress of whose body the Greek monks residing here pretend
to show in a hard stone, which was wont to serve him for his
bed. Near this convent also is a well, where you are told it
w^as that the star appeared to the eastern magi to their ex-
ceeding joy. Fourthly, Rachels tomb. This may probably
be the true place of her interment, mentioned in Gen. xxxv.
19 ; but the present sepulchral monument can be none of
that which Jacob erected ; for it appears plainly to be a
modern and Turkish structure. Near this monument is a
little piece of ground, in which are picked up a little sort of
small, round stones, exactly resembling peas, concerning which
they have a tradition here that they were once truly what
they now seem to be ; but that the blessed Virgin petrified
them by a miracle, in punishment to a surly rustic, who
denied her the charity of a handful of them to relieve her
hunger.
Being arrived at Bethlehem, we immediately made a cir-
cular visit to all the holy places belonging to it, as namely,
the place where it is said our blessed Lord was born ; the
manger in which it is said he was laid; the chapel of St.
Joseph, his supposed father ; that of the Innocents ; those of
St. Jerom, of St. Paula and Eustochium, and of Eusebius of
Cremona : and lastly, the school of St. Jerom ; all which
places it shall suffice just to name.
From the top of the church we had a large prospect of the
adjacent country. The most remarkable places in view were
Tekoah, situate on the side of a hill about nine miles distant
to the southward ; Engedi, distant about three miles eastward ;
and somewhat farther off, the same way, a high, sharp hill
called the mountain of the Franks, because defended by a
party of the crusaders forty years after the loss of Jeru-
salem.
April 1. — This morning we went to see some remarkable
places in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem. The first place
that we directed our course to was those famous fountains,
pools, and gardens, about one hour and a quarter distant from
Bethlehem southward, said to have been the contrivance and
delight of king Solomon. To these works and places of plea-
A.D. 1697.] Solomon's pools. 457
sure that great prince is supposed to allude * where, amongst
the other instances of his magnificence, he reckons up his
gardens, and vineyards, and pools.
As for the pools, they are three in numher, lying in a row
ahove each other, heing so disposed that the waters of the
uppermost may descend into the second, and those of the
second into the third. Their figure is quadrangular. The
breadth is the same in all, amounting to about ninety paces.
In their length there is some difference between them, the
first being about one hundred and sixty paces long, the second
two hundred, the third two hundred and twenty. They are
all lined with w^all, and plastered, and contain a great depth
of water.
Close by the pools is a pleasant castle of a modern structure;
and at about the distance of one hundred and forty paces from
them is the fountain from which, principally, they derive their
waters. This the friars will have to be that " sealed fountain "
to which the holy spouse is compared f ; and, in confirmation
of this opinion, they pretend a tradition that king Solomon
shut up these springs, and kept the door of them sealed with
his signet, to the end that he might preserve the waters for
his own drinking in their natural freshness and purity. Nor
was it difficult thus to secure them, they rising under ground,
and having no avenue to them but by a little hole like to
the mouth of a narrow welL Through this hole you descend
directly down, but not without some difficulty, for about four
yards, and then arrive in a vaulted room fifteen paces long
and eight broad. Joining to this is another room of the same
fashion, but somewhat less. Both these rooms are covered
with handsome stone arches, very ancient, and perhaps the
work of Solomon himself.
You find here four places at which the water rises. From
those separate sources it is conveyed, by little rivulets, into a
kind of basin ; and from thence is carried, by a large subter-
raneous passage, down into the pools. In the way, before it
arrives at the pools, there is an aqueduct of brick pipes, which
receives part of the stream, and carries it, by many turnings
and windings about the mountains, to Jerusalem.
Below the pools there runs down a narrow, rocky valley,
inclosed on both sides with high mountains. This the friars
* Eccl. ii. 5,6. f Cant. iv. 12.
458 HENIIY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
will have to be the inclosed garden alluded to in the same
place of the Canticles before cited : "A garden inclosed is my
sister, my spouse ; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed." What
truth there may be hi this conjecture I cannot absolutely pro-
nounce. As to the pools, it is probable enough they may be
the same with Solomon's, there not being the like store of
excellent spring water to be met with any where else through-
out all Palestine ; but for the gardens, one may safely affirm
that, if Solomon made them in the rocky ground which is now
assigned for them, he demonstrated greater power and wealth
in finishing his design than he did wisdom in choosing the
place for it.
From these memorials of Solomon we returned towards
Bethlehem again, in order to visit some places nearer home.
The places we saw were, the field where it is said the shep-
herds were watching their flocks when they received the glad
tidings of the birth of Christ ; and, not far from the field, the
village where they dwelt ; and a little on the right hand of the
village, an old desolate nunnery built by St. Paula, and made
the more memorable by her dying in it. 'J'hese places are
all within about half a mile of the convent, eastward; and
with these we finished this morning's work.
Having seen what is usually visited on the south and east
of Bethlehem, we walked out after dinner to the westward, to
see what was remarkable on that side. The first place we
were guided to was the well of David, so called because held
to be the same that David so passionately thirsted after ^. It
is a well (or rather a cistern) supplied only with rain, without
any natural excellency in its waters to make them desirable ;
but it seems David's spirit had a farther aim.
About two furlongs beyond this well are to be seen some
remains of an old aqueduct, which anciently conveyed the
waters from Solomon's pools to Jerusalem. This is said to be
the genuine work of Solomon, and may well be allowed to be
in reality what it is pretended for. It is carried all along
upon the surface of the ground, and is composed of stones
.... feet square, and ... . thick, perforated with a cavity
of ... . inches diameter, to make the channel. These stones
are let into each other, with a fillet framed round about the
cavity to prevent leakage, and united to each other with so
* 2 Sam. xxiii. 15.
A.D. 1697.] BETHLEHEM. 459
firm a cement that they will sometimes sooner break (though
a kind of coarse marble) than endure a separation. This train
of stones was covered, for its greater security, with a case of
smaller stones, laid over it in a very strong mortar. The
whole work seems to be endued with such absolute firmness
as if it had been designed for eternity ; but the Turks have
demonstrated, in this instance, that nothing can be so w^ell
wTought but they are able to destroy it ; for of this strong
aqueduct, which was carried formerly five or six leagues, with
so vast expense and labour, you see now only here and there
a fragment remaining.
Eeturning from this place, we went to see the Greek and
Armenian convents, which are contiguous to that of the
Latins, and have each their several doors opening into the
chapel of the holy manger. The next place we went to see
was the grotto of the blessed Virgin. It is within thirty or
forty yards of the convent, and is reverenced upon the account
of a tradition that the blessed Virgin here hid herself and her
divine babe from the fury of Herod for some time before their
departure into Egypt. The grot is hollowed into a chalky
rock ; but this whiteness they will have to be not natural, but
to have have been occasioned by some miraculous drops of
the blessed Virgin's milk, which fell from her breast while
she was suckling the holy infant ; and so much are they
possessed with this opinion, that they believe the chalk of this
grotto has a miraculous virtue for increasing women's milk;
and I was assured, from man}^ hands, that it is very frequently
taken by the women hereabouts, as well Turks and Arabs as
Christians, for that purpose, and that with very good effect ;
which perhaps may be true enough, it being well known how
much fancy is wont to do in things of this nature.
April 2. — The next morning, presenting the guardian with
tw^o chequeens apiece for his civilities to us, we took our
leave of Bethlehem, designing just to visit the wilderness
and convent of St. John the Baptist, and so return to
Jerusalem.
In this stage we first crossed part of that famous valley in
which it is said that the angel, in one night, did such pro-
digious execution in the army of Sennacherib. Having
travelled about half an hour, we came to a village called
Booteshellah, concerning which they relate this remarkable
property, that no Turk can live in it above two years. By
460 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
virtue of this report, whether true or false, the Christians
keep the village to themselves without molestation, no Turk
being willing to stake his life in experimenting the truth of it.
In somewhat less than an hour more we came to the fountain
where they told us, but falsely, that Philip baptized the
Ethiopian eunuch. The passsage here is so rocky and un-
even that pilgrims, finding how difficult the road is for a single
horseman, are ready to think it impossible that a chariot, such
as the eunuch rode in ^, should ever have been able to go this
way ; but it must not be judged what the road was in ancient
times by what the negligence of the Turks have now reduced
it to ; for I observed, not far from the fountain, a place where
the rock had been cut away in old time, in order to lay open
a good road, by which it may be supposed that the same care
was used all along this passage, though now time and negli-
gence have obliterated both the fruit and almost the signs of
such labour.
A little beyond this fountain we came to that which they
call the village of St. Philip, at which, ascending a very steep
hill, we arrived at the wilderness of St. John. A wilderness
it is called, as being very rocky and mountainous : but is well
cultivated, and produces plenty of corn, and vines, and olive
trees. After a good hour s travel in this wilderness, we came
to the cave and fountain where, as they say, the Baptist exer-
cised those severe austerities related of him f . Near this cell
there still grow some old locust trees, the monuments of the
ignorance of the middle times |. These the friars aver to be
the very same that yielded sustenance to the Baptist ; and the
Popish pilgrims, who dare not be wiser than such blind
guides, gather the fruit of them, and carry it away with great
devotion.
Having done with this place, we directed our course towards
the convent of St. John, which is about a league distant east-
ward. In our way we passed along one side of the valley of
Elah, where David slew the giant, that defier of the army of
Israel §. We had likewise in sight Modon, a village on the
* Acts, viii. 28. + Matt. iii. 4.
X See, before, the account of the honey trees, given by Arculf, p. 8. It is
curious to compare these traditions of mistaken interpretations, which lasted
long, and influenced many good writers.
§ 1 Sam. xvii.
A.D. 1697.] CONVENT OF ST. JOHN. 461
top of a high hill, the burying-place of those heroical defenders
of their country, the Maccabees.
Being come near the convent, we were led a little out of
the way to visit a place which they call the house of Elizabeth,
the mother of the Baptist. This was formerly a convent
also, but it is now a heap of ruins, and the only remarkable
place left in it is a grotto, in which (you are told) it was that
the blessed Virgin saluted Elizabeth, and pronounced her
divine magnificat'''.
The present convent of St. John, which is now inhabited,
stands about three furlongs distance from this house of Eliza-
beth, and is supposed to be built at the place where St. John
was born. If you chance to ask how it came to pass that
Elizabeth lived in one house when she was big with the Bap-
tist, and in another when she brought him forth, the answer
you are like to receive is, that the former was her country,
the latter her city habitation, and that it is no wonder for a
wife of one of the priests of better rank, such as she wasf, to
be provided with such variety.
The convent of St. John has been, within these four years,
rebuilt from the ground. It is at present a large square
building, uniform and neat all over ; but that which is most
eminently beautiful in it is its church. It consists of three
aisles, and has in the middle a handsome cupola, under which
is a pavement of mosaic, equal to, if not exceeding, the finest
works of the ancients of that kind. At the upper end of the
north aisle you go down seven marble steps, to a very splendid
altar, erected over the very place where they say the holy
Baptist was born. Here are artificers still employed in add-
ing farther beauty and ornament to this convent, and yet it
has been so expensive a work already, that the friars them-
selves give out that there is not a stone laid in it but has cost
them a dollar ; which, considering the large sums exacted by
the Turks for licence to begin fabrics of this nature, and also
their perpetual extortion and avarrias afterwards, besides the
necessary charge of building, may be allowed to pass for no
extravagant hyperbole.
Eeturning from St. John's toward Jerusalem, we came in
about three quarters of an hour to a convent of the Greeks,
taking its name from the holy cross. This convent is very
. * Luke i. 46. ' f Ibid. i. 6.
463 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. ] 697.
neat in its structure, and in its situation delightful. But that
which most deserves to be noted in it, is the reason of its
name and foundation. It is because there is the earth that
nourished the root, that bore the tree, that yielded the timber,
that made the cross. Under the high altar you are shown a
hole in the ground where the stump of the tree stood, and it
meets with not a few visitants so much more very stocks than
itself as to fall down and worship it. This convent is not
above half an hour from Jerusalem ; to which place we re-
turned this evening, being the fifth day from our departure
hence.
After our return, we were invited into the convent to have
our feet washed, a ceremony performed to each pilgrim by the
father guardian himself. The whole society stands around,
singing some Latin hymns, all the while the father guardian
is doing his office ; and when he has done, every friar comes
in order, and kisses the feet of the pilgrim. All this was
performed with great order and solemnity ; and if it served
either to testify a sincere humility and charity in them, or to
improve those excellent graces in others, it might pass for no
unuseful ceremony.
April 3. — We went about mid-day to see the function of the
Holy Fire^. This is a ceremony kept up by the Greeks and
Armenians, upon a persuasion that every Easter-Eve there is
miraculous flame descends from heaven into the holy sepulchre,
and kindles all the lamps and candles there, as the sacrifice
was burnt at the prayers of Elijahf.
Coming to the church of the Holy Sepulchre, we found it
crowded with a numerous and distracted mob, making a
hideous clamour very unfit for that sacred place, and better
becoming Bacchanals than Christians. Getting with some
struggle through the crowd, we went up into the gallery on
that side of the church next the Latin convent, whence we
could discern all that passed in this religious frenzy.
They began their disorders by running round the holy
sepulchre with all their might and swiftness, crying out, as
they went, "Huia!" which signifies ''this is he," or "this
is it," an expression by which they assert the verity of the
Christian religion. After they had, by these vertiginous cir-
culations and clamours, turned their heads and inflamed their
* See before, p. 27. f 1 Kings, xviii.
A.D. 1697.] THE HOLY FIRE. 463
madness, they began to act the most antic tricks and postures,
in a thousand shapes of distraction. Sometimes they dragged
one another along the floor all round the sepulchre ; some-
times they set one man upright on another's shoulders, and
in this posture marched round ; sometimes they took men
with their heels upward, and hurried them about in such an
indecent manner as to expose their nudities ; sometimes they
tumbled round the sepulchre after the manner of tumblers
on the stage. In a word, nothing can be imagined more
rude or extravagant than what was acted upon this occasion.
In this tumultuous frantic humour they continued from
twelve till four o'clock : the reason of which delay was, be-
cause of a suit that was then in debate before the cadi,
betwixt the Greeks and Armenians, the former endeavouring
to exclude the latter from having any share in this miracle.
Both parties having expended, as I was informed, five thou-
sand dollars between them in this foolish controversy, the
cadi at last gave sentence that they should enter the holy
sepulchre together, as had been usual at former times. Sen-
tence being thus given, at four o'clock both nations went on
with their ceremony The Greeks first set out, in a proces-
sion round the holy sepulchre, and immediately at their heels
followed the Armenians. In this order they compassed the
holy sepulchre thrice, having produced all their gallantry of
standards, streamers, crucifixes, and embroidered habits upon
this occasion.
Towards the end of this procession, there was a pigeon
came fluttering into the cupola over the sepulchre, at sight
of w^hich there was a greater shout and clamour than before.
This bird, the Latins told us, was purposely let fly by the
Greeks, to deceive the people into an opinion that it was a
visible descent of the Holy Ghost.
The procession being over, the suffragan of the Greek
patriarch (he being himself at Constantinople), and the prin-
cipal Armenian bishop, approached to the door of the sepulchre,
and, cutting the string with which it is fastened and sealed,
entered in, shutting the door after them, all the candles and
lamps within having been before extinguished, in the pre-
sence of the Turks and other witnesses. The exclamations
were doubled as the miracle drew nearer to its accomplish-
ment, and the people pressed with such vehemence towards
the door of the sepulchre, that it was not in the power of the
464 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
Turks set to guard it, with the severest drubs, to keep them
off. The cause of their pressing in this manner is the great
desire they have to light their candles at the holy flame as
soon as it is first brought out of the sepulchre, it being
esteemed the most sacred and pure, as coming immediately
from heaven.
The two miracle-mongers had not been above a minute in
the holy sepulchre, when the glimmering of the holy fire was
seen, or imagined to appear, through some chinks of the door;
and certainly Bedlam itself never saw such an unruly tran-
sport as was produced in the mob at this sight. Immediately
after, out came the two priests with blazing torches in their
hands, which they held up at the door of the sepulchre, while
the people thronged about with inexpressible ardour, every
one striving to obtain a part of the first and purest flame.
The Turks, in the meantime, with huge clubs, laid on them
without mercy ; but all this could not repel them, the excess
of their transport making them insensible of pain. Those
that got the fire applied it immediately to their beards, faces,
and bosoms, pretending that it would not burn like an earthly
flame. But I plainly saw none of them could endure this
experiment long enough to make good that pretension.
So many hands being employed, you may be sure it could
not be long before innumerable tapers were lighted. The
whole church, galleries, and every place, seemed instantly to
be in a flame, and with this illumination the ceremony
ended.
It must be owned, that those two within the sepulchre per-
formed their part with great quickness and dexterity ; but the
behaviour of the rabble without very much discredited the
miracle. The Latins take a great deal of pains to expose
this ceremony, as a most shameful imposture, and a scandal
to the Christian religion ; perhaps out of envy that others
should be masters of so gainful a business. But the Greeks
and Armenians pin their faith upon it, and make their pil-
grimages chiefly upon this motive. And it is the deplorable
unhappiness of their priests, that having acted the cheat so
long already, they are forced now to stand to it, for fear of
endangering the apostasy of their people.
Going out of the church after the rout was over, we saw
several people gathered about the stone of unction, who, having
got a good store of candles lighted with the holy fire, were
A.D. 1697.] HOLY PLACE. 465
employed in daubing pieces of linen with the Thicks of them
and the melting wax, which pieces of linen were designed for
winding-sheets ; and it is the opinion of these poor people,
that if they can but have the happiness to be buried in a
shroud smutted with this celestial fire, it will certainly secure
them from the flames of hell.
Sunday, April 4. — This day being our Easter, we did not
go abroad to visit any places, the time requiring an employ-
ment of another nature.
April 5. — This morning we went to see some more of the
curiosities which had been yet unvisited by us. The first
place we came to was that which they call St. Peter's prison,
from which he was delivered by the angel*. It is close to the
church of the Holy Sepulchre, and still serves its primitive
use. About the space of a furlong from thence, we came to
an old church, held to have been built by Helena, in the
place where stood the house of Zebedee. This is in the
hands of the Greeks, who tell you, that Zebedee, being a
fisherman, was wont to bring fish from Joppa thither, and to
vend it at this place. Not far from hence we came to the
place where, they say, stood anciently the iron gate, which
opened to Peter of its own accord. A few steps farther is
the small church built over the house of Mark, to which the
apostle directed his course after his miraculous gaol-delivery.
The Syrians, who have this place in their custody, pretend to
show you the very window at which Ehoda looked out, whde
Peter knocked at the door. In the church they show a Syriac
manuscript of the New^ Testament in folio, pretended to be
eight hundred and fifty-two years old, and a little stone font
used by the Apostles themselves in baptizing. About one
hundred and fifty paces farther in the same street, is that
which they call the house of St. Thonms, converted formerly
into a church, but now a mosque. Not many paces farther
is another street crossing the former, which leads you, on the
right hand, to the place where they say our Lord appeared,
after his Eesurrection, to the three Marys f. Three Maiys,
the friars tell you, though in that place of St. Matthew men-
tion is made but of two. The same street carries you, on the
left hand, to the Armenian convent. The Armenians have
here a very large and delightful space of ground, their con-
* Acts^ xii. I Matt, xxviii. 9.
H H
466 HENKY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697.
vent and gardens taking up all that part of Mount Sion which
is within the walls of the city. Their church is built over
the place where they say St. James, the brother of John, was
beheaded-:-. In a small chapel, on the north side of the
church, is shown the very place of his decollation. In this
church are two altars set out with extraordinary splendour,
being decked with rich mitres, embroidered copes, crosses,
both silver and gold, crowns, chalices, and other church uten-
sils, without number. In the middle of the church is a pulpit
made of tortoise-shell and mother of pearl, with a beautiful
canopy, or cupola over it, of the same fabric. The tortoise-
shell and mother of pearl are so exquisitely mingled and
inlaid in each other, that the work far exceeds the materials.
In a kind of anti-chapel to this church, there are laid up, on
one side of the altar, three large rough stones, esteemed very
precious, as being, one of them, the stone upon which Moses
cast the two Tables, when he broke them, in indignation at
the idolatry of the Israelites; the other two being brought,
one from the place of our Lord's Baptism, the other from that
of his Transfiguration.
Leaving this convent w^e went a little farther to another
small church, which was likeAvise in the hands of the Ar-
menians. This is supposed to be founded in the place where
Annas s house stood. Within the church, not far from the
door, is shown a hole in the wall, denoting the place where
one of the officers of the high priest smote our blessed
Saviour f. The officer, by whose impious hand that buffet
was given, the friars will hav« to be the same Malchus whose
ear our Lord had healed. In the court before this chapel is
an olive tree, of which it is reported, that Christ was chained
to it for some time, by order of Annas, to secure him from
escaping.
From the house of Annas we were conducted out of Sion
Gate, which is near adjoining to that which they call the
house of Caiaphas, which is another small chapel belonging
also to the Armenians. Here, under the altar, they tell us is
deposited that very stone which was laid to secure the door
of our Saviour's sepulchre |, It was a long time kept in the
church of the sepulchre; but the Armenians, not many years
since, stole it from thence by a stratagem, and conveyed it to
• Acts, xii. 2. f John, xviii. 22. J Matt, xxvii. 60.
A.D. 1697.] HOLY PLACES WITHOUT JERUSALEM. 467
this place. The stone is two yards and a quarter long, high
one yard, and broad as much. It is plastered all over, except
in five or six little places, where it is left bare to receive the
immediate kisses and other devotions of pilgrims. Here is
likewise shown a little cell, said to have been our Lord's
prison till the morning when he was carried from hence
before Pilate ; and also the place where Peter was frightened
into a denial of his Master.
A little farther without the gate is the church of the
Coenaculum, where they say Christ instituted his Last Supper.
It is now a mosque, and not to be seen by Christians. Near
this is a well, which is said to mark out the place at which
the Apostles divided from each other, in order to go every
man to his several charge ; and close by the well are the
ruins of a house in which the blessed Virgin is supposed
to have breathed her last. Going eastward, a little way down
the hill, we were shown the place where a Jew arrested the
corpse of the blessed Virgin, as she was carried to her inter-
ment, for which impious presumption he had his hand withered
wherewith he had seized the bier. About as much lower in
the middle of the hill, they show you the grotto in which St.
Peter wept so bitterly for his inconstancy to his Lord.
We extended our circuit no farther at this time, but entered
the city again at Sion Gate. Turning down as soon as we had
entered, on the right hand, and going about two furlongs close
by the city wall, we were taken into a garden lying at the foot
of Mount Moriah, on the south side. Here we were shown
several large vaults annexed to the mountain on this side, and
running at least fifty yards under ground. They were built
in two isles, arched at top with huge firm stone, and sus-
tained with tall pillars consisting each of one single stone,
and two yards in diameter. This might possibly be some
under-ground work made to enlarge the area of the temple,
for Josephus seems to describe some such work as this,
erected over the valley on this side of the temple '^.
From these vaults we returned towards the convent. In
our way we passed through the Turkish bazaars, and took a
view of the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. But we could but
just view it in passing, it not being safe to stay here long, by
reason of the superstition of the Turks.
* Ant. Jud. lib. xv. cap. ult.
H H 2
468 HENRY MAUNDBELL. [a.D. 1697.,
April 6. — The next morning we took another progress
about the city. We made our exit at Bethlehem Gate, and
turning down on the left hand under the castle of the Pisans,
came about a furlong and a half to that which they call Bath-
sheba's Pool. It lies, at the bottom of Mount Sion, and is
supposed to be the same in which Bathsheba was washing
herself, when David spied her from the terrace of his palace.
But others refer this accident to another lesser pool in a
garden just within Bethlehem Gate ; and perhaps both opinions
are equally right.
A little below this pool begins the valley of Hinnom, on the
west side of which is the place called anciently the Potter s
Field, and afterwards the Field of Blood, from its being
purchased with the pieces of silver which were the price of
the blood of Christ; but at present, from that veneration
which it has obtained among Christians, it is called Campo
Sancto. It is a small plot of ground not above thirty yards
long, and about half as much broad. One moiety of it is
taken up by a square fabric twelve yards high, built for a
charnel-house. The corpses are let down into it from the
top, there being five holes left open for that purpose. Look-
ing down through these holes we could see many bodies under
several degrees of decay, from which it may be conjectured
that this grave does not make that quick despatch with the
corpses committed to it, which is commonly reported. The
Armenians have the command of this burying place, for which
they pay the Turks a rent of one seuin a day. The earth is
of a chalky substance hereabouts.
A. little below the Campo Sancto is shown an intricate
cave or sepulchre consisting of several rooms, one within
another, in which the apostles are said to have hid them-
selves, when they forsook their Master, and fled. The
entrance of the cave discovers signs of its having been
adorned with painting in ancient times.
A little farther, the valley of Hinnom terminates, that of
Jehoshaphat running across the mouth of it. Along the bottom
of this latter valley runs the brook Cedron; a brook in winter-
time, but without the least drop of water in it all the time
we were at Jerusalem.
In the valley of Jehoshaphat, the first thing you are carried
to is the well of Nehemiah ; so called because reputed to be
the same place from which the restorer of Israel recovered
A.D. 1697.] NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 469
the fire of the altar, after the Babylonish captivity -i^. A little
higher in the valley, on the left hand, you come to a tree
supposed to mark out the place where the Evangelical Prophet
was sawn asunder. About one hundred paces higher, on the
same side, is the pool of Siloam. It was anciently dignified
with a church built over it ; but, when we were there, a tanner
made no scruple to dress his hides in it. Going about a fur-
long farther on the same side, you come to the fountain of
the blessed Virgin, so called, because she was wont (as is
reported) to resort hither for water; but at what time and
upon what occasions is not yet agreed. Over against this
fountain, on the other side of the valley, is a village called
Siloe, in which Solomon is said to have kept his strange
wives ; and above the village is a hill called the Mountain of
Offence, because there Solomon built the high places men-
tioned in 1 Kings xi. 7, his wives having perverted his wise
heart to follow their idolatrous abominations in his declining
years. On the same side, and not far distant from Siloe, they
show another Aceldama, or Field of Blood ; so called because
there it was that Judas, by the just judgment of God, met
with his compounded death f . A little farther on the same
side of the valley, they showed us several Jewish monuments.
Amongst the rest there are two noble antiquities, which they
call the sepulchre of Zachary and the pillar of Absolom.
Close by the latter is the sepulchre of Jehoshaphat, from which
the whole valley takes its name.
Upon the edge of the hill, on the opposite side of the valley,
there runs along, in a direct line, the w^all of the city, near
the corner of which there is a short end of a pillar jutting out
of the wall. Upon this pillar, the Turks have a tradition
that Mohammed shall sit in judgment at the last day ; and that
all the world shall be gathered together in the valley below, to
receive their doom from his mouth. A little farther north-
ward is the gate of the Temple. It is at present walled up,
because the Turks here have a prophecy that their destruction
shall enter at that gate, the completion of which prediction
they endeavour by this means to prevent. Below this gate,'
in the bottom of the valley, is a broad hard stone, discovering
several impressions on it, which you may fancy to be foot-
steps. These, the friars tell you, are prints made by our
blessed Saviour s feet, when, after his apprehension, he was
* 2 Mac. i. 19. f Matt, xxvii. 5. Acts, i. 18, 19.
470 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697.
hurried violently away to the tribunal of his blood-thirsty
persecutors.
From hence, keeping still in the bottom of the valley, you
come in a few paces to a place which they call the sepulchre
of the blessed Virgin. It has a magnificent descent down
into it of forty-seven stairs; on the right hand as you go down
is the sepulchre of St. Anna, the mother, and on the left that
of St. Joseph, the husband of the blessed Virgin.
Having finished our visit to this place, we went up the hill
toward the city. In the side of the ascent we were shown a
broad stone on which they say St. Stephen suffered martyr-
dom ; and not far from it is a grotto, into which they tell you
the outrageous Jewish zealots cast his body, when they had
satiated their fury upon him. From hence we went immedi-
ately to St. Stephen's Gate, so called from its vicinity to this
place of the protomartyr's suffering, and so returned to our
lodging.
April 7. — The next morning we set out again, in order to
see the sanctuaries and other visitable places upon Mount
Olivet. We went out at St. Stephen's Gate, and, crossing the
Valley of Jehoshaphat, began immediately to ascend the moun-
tains. Being got about two-thirds of the way up, we came to
certain grottos cut with intricate windings and caverns under
ground ; these are called the sepulchres of the prophets. A
little higher up are tw^elve arched vaults under ground, stand-
ing side by side ; these were built in memory of the twelve
apostles, who are said to have compiled their creed in this
place. Sixty paces higher you come to the place where they
say Christ uttered his prophecy concerning the final destruc-
tion of Jerusalem *. And a little on the right hand of this is
the place where they say he dictated a second time the Pater
Noster to his disciples f. Somewhat higher is the cave of St.
Pelagia; and as much more above that, a pillar, signifying the
place where an angel gave the blessed Virgin three days' warn-
ing of her death. At the top of the hill you come to the place
of our blessed Lord's ascension. Here was anciently a large
church, built in honour of that glorious triumph, but all that
now remains of it is only an octagonal cupola, about eight
yards in diameter, standing, as they say, over the very place
where were set the last footsteps of the Son of God here on
earth. Within the cupola there is seen, in a hard stone, as
* Matt. xxiv. 2. f Luke, xi. 1, 2.
A.D. 1697 ] MOUNT OLIVET. 471
tliey tell you, the print of one of his feet. Here was also that
of the other foot some time since, but it has been removed
from hence by the Turks into the great mosque upon Mount
Moria. This chapel of the Ascension the Turks have the
custody of, and use it for a mosque. There are many other
holy places about Jerusalem, which the Turks pretend to have
a veneration for, equally with the Christians, and under that
pretence they take them into their own hands. But whether
they do this out of real devotion, or for lucre's sake, and to the
end that they may exact money from the Christians for
admission into them, I will not determine.
About two furlongs from this place, northward, is the
highest part of Mount Olivet ; and upon that was anciently
erected a high tower, in memory of that apparition of the
two angels to the apostles after our blessed Lord's ascension -^S
from which the tower itself had the name given it of Viri
Gaiilsei! This ancient monument remained till about two
years since, when it was demolished by a Turk, who had
bought the field in which it stood ; but nevertheless jojii have
still, from the natural height of the place, a large prospect of
Jerusalem and the adjacent coimtry, and of the Dead Sea, &c.
From this place we descended the mount again by another
road. At about the midway down they show you the place
where Christ beheld the city and wept over itf. Near the
bottom of the hill is a great stone, upon which you are told
the blessed. Virgin let fall her girdle after her assumption, in
order to convince St. Thomas, who, they say, was troubled
with a fit of his old incredulity upon this occasion. There is
still to be seen a small winding channel upon the stone, which
they will have to be the impression made by the girdle when
it fell, and to be left for the conviction of all such as shall
suspect the truth of their story of the assumption.
About twenty yards lower they show you Gethsemane, an
even plot of ground not above fifty-seven yards square, lying
between the foot of Mount Olivet and the brook Cedron. It
is well planted with olive trees, and those of so old a growth,
that they are believed to be the same that stood here in our
blessed Saviour's time, in virtue of which persuasion the olives,
and olive stones, and oil, which they produce, became an excel-
lent commodity in Spain ; but that these trees cannot be so
* Acts, i. 10, 11. f Luke, xix. 41.
472 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697.
ancient as is pretended is evident from what Josephus testi-
fies^', viz. that Titus, in his siege of Jerusalem, cut down all
the trees vdthin about one hundred furlongs of Jerusalem ;
and that the soldiers were forced to fetch wood so far for
making their mounts when they assaulted the temple.
At the upper comer of the garden is a flat, naked ledge of
rock, reputed to be the place on which the apostles, Peter,
James, and John, fell asleep during the agony of our Lord ;
and a few paces from hence is a grotto, said to be the place in
which Christ underwent that bitter part of his passion.
About eight paces from the place where the apostles slept
is a small shred of ground, twelve yards long and one broad,
supposed to be the very path on which the traitor Judas
walked up to Christ, saying "Hail Master, and kissed him."
This narrow path is separated by a wall out of the midst of
the garden, as a terra damnata, a work the more remarkable
as being done by the Turks, who, as well as Christians, detest
the very ground on which was acted such an infamous treachery.
From hence we crossed the brook Cedron, close by the
reputed sepulchre of the blessed Virgin, and, entering at
St. Stephen's Gate, returned again to the convent.
April 8. — We went to see the palace of Pilate, I mean the
place where they say it stood ; for now an ordinary Turkish
house possesses its room. It is not far from the gate of St.
Stephen, and borders upon the area of the temple on the
north side. From the terrace of this house yoa have a fair
prospect of all the place where the temple stood ; indeed the
only good prosj)ect that is allowed you of it ; for there is no
going within the borders of it without forfeiting your life, or,
which is worse, your religion. A fitter place for an august
building could not be found in the whole world than this area.
It lies upon the top of Mount Moriah, over against Mount
Olivet, the valley of Jehoshaphat lying between both mountains.
It is, as far as I could compute by walking round it without,
five hundred and seventy of my paces in length, and three
hundred and seventy in breadth ; and one may still discern
marks of the great labour that it cost to cut away the hard
rock, and to level such a spacious area upon so strong a
mountain. In the middle of the area stands, at present, a
* Bell. Jud., lib. vii. cap. 15, and other places.
A.D. 1697.] POOL OF BETHESDA. 473
mosque, of an octagonal figure, supposed to be built upon the
same ground where anciently stood the sanctum sanctorum.
It is neither eminent for its largeness nor its structure ; and
yet it makes a very stately figure by the sole advantage of its
situation.
In this pretended house of Pilate is shown the room in
which Christ was mocked with the ensigns of royalty and
buffeted by the soldiers. At the coming out of the house is
a descent, where was anciently the scala sancta. On the
other side of the street (which was anciently part of the
palace also) is the room where they say our Lord was scourged.
It was once used for a stable by the son of a certain pasha of
Jerusalem ; but presently, for this profanation, they say there
came such a mortality amongst his horses as forced him to
resign the place ; by which means it was redeemed from that
sordid use ; but, nevertheless, when we were there, it was no
better than a weaver's shop. In our return from Pilate's
palace we passed along the Dolorous Way, in which walk we
were shown in order, first, the place where Pilate brought our
Lord forth, to present to the people, with this mystic saying,
" Behold the Man ! " secondly, where Christ fainted thrice
under the weight of his cross ; thirdly, where the blessed
Virgin swooned away at so tragical a spectacle ; fourthly,
where St. Veronica presented to him the handkerchief to
wipe his bleeding brows ; fifthly, where the soldiers compelled
Simon the Cyrenian to bear his cross ; all which places I need
only to name.
April 9. — We went to take a view of that which they call
the pool of Bethesda. It is one hundred and twenty paces
long, and forty broad, and at least eight deep, but void of
water. At its west end it discovers some old arches, now
dammed up. These some will have to be the fiye porches in
which sat that multitude of lame, halt, and blind -'' ; but the
mischief is, instead of five, there are but three of them. The
pool is contiguous on one side to St. Stephen's Gate, on the
other to the area of the temple.
From hence we went to the convent or nunnery of St.
Anne. The church here is large and entire, and so are part
of the lodgings ; but both are desolate and neglected. In a
* John, V.
474 HFNRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
grotto under the church is shown the place where thej saj
the blessed Virgin was born. Near this church they show the
Pharisee's house, where Mary Magdalen exhibited those ad-
mirable evidences of a penitent affection towards our Saviour,
" washing his feet with her tears, and wiping them with her
hair."f Tins place also has been anciently dignified with holy
buildings, but they are now neglected.
This was our morning's work. In the afternoon we went
to see Mount Gihon, and the pool of the same name. It lies
about two furlongs without Bethlehem Gate, westward. It is
a stately pool, one hundred and sixty paces long and sixty-
seven broad, and lined with wall and plaster, and was, when
we were there, well stored mth water.
Ap^il 10. — We went to take our leaves of the holy sepul-
chre, this being the last time it was to be opened this festival.
Upon this finishing day, and the night following, the Turks
allow free admittance for all people, without demanding any
fee for entrance as at other times, calling it a day of charity.
By this promiscuous licence they let in not only the poor, but,
as I was told, the lewd and vicious also, who come thither to
get convenient opportunity for prostitution, profaning the
holy places in such manner (as it is said) that they were not
worse defiled even when the heathens here celebrated their
aphrodisia.
Sunday, April 11. — Now began the Turks' Byram, that is
the feast which they celebrate after their Lent, called by them
Kamadan. This being a time of great libertinism among the
rabble, we thought it prudent to confine ourselves to our
lodgings for some time, to the end that we might avoid such
insolences as are usual in such times of public festivity. Our
confinement was the less incommodious, because there was
hardly any thing, either within or about the city, which we
had not already visited.
April 12, 13. — We kept close to our quarters, but, however,
not in idleness ; the time being now come when we were to
contrive and provide things in order for our departure. We
had a bad account, from all hands, of the country's being more
and more embroiled by the Arabs, which made us somewhat
unresolved what way and method to take for our return ; but
during our suspense it was told us that the mosolem was
t Luke, vii. 38.
A.D. 1697.] DIMENSIONS OF JERUSALEM. 475
likewise upon his return to his master, the pasha of Tripoli,
upon which intelligence we resolved, if possible, to join our-
selves to his company.
April 14. — We went, with a small present in our hands, to
wait upon the mosolem, in order to inquire the time of his
departure and acquaint him with our desire to go under his
protection. He assured us of his setting out the next
morning; so we immediately took our leaves in order to
prepare ourselves for accompanying him.
I was willing, before our departure, to measure the circuit
of the city ; so, taking one of the friars with me, I went out
in the afternoon in order to pace the walls round. We went
out at Bethlehem Gate ; and, proceeding on the right hand,
came about to the same gate again. 1 found the whole city
4630 prces in circumference, which I computed thus : —
Paces.
From Bethlehem Gate to the corner on the right hand . . . 400
From that corner to Damascus Grate 680
From Damascus Grate to Herod's 380
From Herod's Gate to Jeremiah's prison . . . . . 150
From Jeremiah's prison to the corner next the valley of Jehoshaphat 225
From that corner to St. Stephen's Gate ..... 385
From St. Stephen's Gate to the Golden Gate . . . . 240
From the Golden Gate to the corner of the wall . . . . 380
From that comer to the Dung Gate . . . , . . 470
From the Dung Gate to Sion Gate 605
From Sion Gate to the corner of the wall 215
From that corner to Bethlehem Gate 500
In all, paces 4630
The reduction of my paces to yards is by casting away a
tenth part, ten of my paces making nine yards ; by which
reckoning the 4680 paces amount to 4167 yards, which make
just two miles and a half.
Ap7il 15. — This morning our diplomata were presented us
by the father guardian, to certify our having visited all the
holy places ; and we presented the convent fifty dollars a
man as a gratuity for their trouble; which offices having
passed betwixt us, we took our leaves.
We set out together with the mosolem, and, proceeding in
the same road by which we came, lodged the first night at
Khan Leban ; but the mosolem left us here, and continued
his stage as far as Naplosa ; so we saw him no more. The
country people were now every where at plough in the fields,
4?6 HENRY maundrp:ll. [a.d. 1697.
in order to sow cotton. Tt was observable that, in ploughing,
they used goads of an extraordinary size. Upon measuring
of several, I found them about eight feet long, and at the
bigger end six inches in circumference. They were armed at
the lesser end with a sharp prickle for driving the oxen, and
at the other end with a small spade or paddle of iron, strong
and massy, for cleansing the plough from the clay that encum-
bers it in working. May we not from hence conjecture that it
was with such a goad as one of these that Shamgar made that
prodigious slaughter related of him-'-'? I am confident that
whoever should see one of these instruments would judge it
to be a weapon not less fit, perhaps fitter, than a sword for
such an execution. Goads of this sort I saw always used
hereabouts, and also in Syria; and the reason is, because the
same single person both drives the oxen, and also holds and
manages the plough, which makes it necessary to use such a
goad as is above described to avoid the encumbrance of two
instruments.
Apjil 16. — Leaving Khan Leban, we proceeded still in our
former road, and, passing by Naplosa and Samaria, we came
to the fountain Selee, and there took up our lodging this
night.
April 17. — The next morning w-e continued on in the same
road that we travelled when outward bound, till we came to
Caphar Arab. At this place we left our former way, and,
instead of turning off on the left hand to go to Acra, we kept
our course strait forwards, resolving to cross directly athwart
the plain of Esdraelon, and to visit Nazareth.
Proceeding in this course from Caphar Arab, we came in
about half an hour to Jeneen. This is a large old town, on
the skirts of Esdraelon. It has in it an old castle and two
mosques, and is the chief residence of the emir Chibly. Here
w^e were accosted with a command from the emir not to ad-
vance any farther, till he should come in person to receive of
us his caphars. This was very unwelcome news to us, who
had met with a trial of his civility before. But, however, we
had no remedy, and therefore thought it best to comply as
contentedly as w^e could. Having been kept thus in suspense
from two in the morning till sun-set, we then received an
order from the prince to pay the caphar to an officer, whom he
sent to receive it and dismiss us.
* Judg. iii. 31.
A.D. 1697.] NAZARETH. 477
Having received this licence, we made all the haste we
could to despatch the caphar, and to get clear of these Arabs.
But, notwithstanding all our diligence, it was near midnight
before we could finish. After which we departed, and, enter-
ing immediately into the plain of Esdraelon, travelled over it
all night, and in seven hours reached its other side. Here
we had a very steep and rocky ascent ; but, however, in half
an hour we mastered it, and arrived at Nazareth.
Sunday, April 18. — Nazareth is at present only an incon-
siderable village, situated in a kind of round concave valley,
on the top of a high hill. We were entertained at the con-
vent built over the place of the Annunciation. At this place
are, as it were, immured, seven or eight Latin fathers, who
live a life truly mortified, being perpetually in fear of the
Arabs, who are absolute lords of the country.
We went in the afternoon to visit the sanctuary of this
place. The church of Nazareth stands in a cave supposed to
be the place where the blessed Virgin received that joyful
message of the angel, " Hail thou that art highly favoured,"^
&c. It resembles the figure of a cross. That part of it that
stands for the tree of the cross is fourteen paces long and
six over, and runs directly into the grotto, having no other
arch over it at top but that of the natural rock. The traverse
part of the cross is nine paces long and four broad, and is
built athwart the mouth of the grotto. Just at the section of
the cross are erected two granite pillars, each two feet and
one inch diameter, and about three feet distant from each
other. They are supposed to stand on the very places, one
where the angel, the other where the blessed Virgin stood,
at the time of the Annunciation. Of these pillars, the inner-
most, being that of the blessed Virgin, has been broke away
by the Turks, in expectation of finding treasure under it, so
that eighteen inches length of it is clean gone, between the
pillar and its pedestal. Nevertheless it remains erect, though
by what art it is sustained I could not discern. It touches
the roof above, and is probably hung upon that ; unless you
had rather take the friars' account of it, viz. that it is sup-
ported by a miracle.
After this we went to see the house of Joseph, being the
same, as they tell you, in which the Son of God lived for near
* Luke, i. 28. ,
478 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697.
thirty years, in subjection to man^. Not far distant from
hence they show you the synagogue where our blessed Lord
preached that sermon f by which he so exasperated his
countrymen. Both these places lie north-west from the con-
vent, and were anciently dignified each with a handsome
church, but these monuments of queen Helena's piety are
now in ruins.
April 19. — This day we destined for visiting Mount Tabor,
standing by itself in the plain of Esdraelon, about two or
three furlongs within the plain.
Its being situated in such a separate manner, has induced
most authors to conclude that this must needs be that holy
mountain, as St. Peter styles it J, which was the place of our
blessed Lord's Transfiguration §. You read that Christ " took
with him Peter, James, and John, into a mountain apart,"
from which description they infer that the mountain there
spoken of can be no other than Tabor. The conclusions may
possibly be true, but the argument used to prove it seems in-
competent ; because the term h^t' l^.av, or apart, most likely
relates to the withdrawing and retirement of the persons
there spoken of, and not the situation of the mountain.
After a very laborious ascent, which took up near an hour,
we reached the highest part of the mountain. It has a plain
area at top, most fertile and delicious, of an oval figure, ex-
tending about one furlong in breadth, and two in length. This
area is inclosed with trees on all parts, except toward the
south. It was anciently environed with walls and trenches,
and other fortifications, of which it exhibits many remains at
this day.
In this area there are in several places cisterns of good
water ; but those which are most devoutly visited are three
contiguous grottos, made to represent the three tabernacles
which St. Peter proposed to erect, in the astonishment that
possessed him at the glory of the Transfiguration. " Lord,"
says he, "it is good for us to be here; let us make three
tabernacles, one for thee," &c.
I cannot forbear to mention, in this place, an observation
which is very obvious to all that visit the Holy Land, viz.
that almost all passages and histories related in the Gospel
* Luke, ii. 51. f Luke, iv.
t 2 Peter, i. 18. § Matt. xvii. ; Mark, ix.
A.D. 1697.] ]\IOUNT TABOR. 479
are represented by them that undertake to show where every
thing was done, as having been done most of them in
grottos, and that even in such cases where the condition and
the circumstances of the actions themselves seem to require
places of another nature. Thus, if you would see the place
where St. Anne was delivered of the blessed Virgin, you are
carried to a grotto ; if the place of the Annunciation, it is
also a grotto ; if the place where the blessed Virgin saluted
Elizabeth ; if that of the Baptist s, or that of our blessed
Saviour s Nativity ; if that of the Agony, or that of St. Peter s
repentance, or that where the Apostles made the Creed, or
this of the Transfiguration, all these places are also grottos;
and, in a word, wherever you go, you find almost every thing
is represented as done under ground. Certainly grottos were
anciently held in great esteem, or else they could never have
been assigned, in spite of all probability, for the places in
which were done so many various actions. Perhaps it was
the hermits' way of living in grottos from the fifth or sixth
century downward, that has brought them ever since to be in
so great reputation.
From the top of Tabor you have a prospect which, if no-
thing else, well rewards the labour of ascending it. It is
impossible for man's eyes to behold a higher gratification of
this nature. On the north-west, you discern at a distance the
Mediterranean ; and all around you have the spacious and
beautiful plains of Esdraelon and Galilee, which present you
with the view of so many places memorable for the resort and
miracles of the Son of God. At the bottom of Tabor west-
ward stands Daberah, a small village, supposed by some to
take its name from Deborah, that famous judge and deliverer
of Israel. Near this valley is the fountain of Kishon. Not
many leagues distant eastward, you see Mount Hermon, at
the foot of which is seated Nain, famous for our Lord's raising
the widow's son there '^; and Endor, the place where dwelt
the witch consulted by Saul. Turning a little southward, you
have in view the high mountains of Gilboa, fatal to Saul and
his sons. Due east, you discover the Sea of Tiberias, distant
about one day's journey, and close by that sea they show a
steep mountain, down which the swine ran, and perished in
the waters f. A few points tow-ards the north appears that
* Luke, vii. 14. f Matt. viii. 32.
480 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
which they call the Mount of the Beatitudes ; a small rising,
from which our blessed Saviour delivered his sermon in the
fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of St. Matthew. Not far
from this little hill is the city of Saphet, supposed to be the
ancient Bethulia. It stands upon a very eminent and con-
spicuous mountain, and is seen far and near. May we not
suppose that Christ alludes to this city in those words of his
sermon, * A city set on a hill cannot be hid-'^? A conjecture
which seems the more probable, because our Lord, in several
places, affects to illustrate his discourse by comparisons taken
from objects that were then present before the eyes of his
auditors ; as Avhen he bids them " Behold the fowls of the
air,"f " and the lilies of the field." | From Mount Tabor you
have likewise the sight of a place which they will tell you
was Dotham, where Joseph was sold by his brethren ; and of
the field where our blessed Saviour fed the multitude with a
few loaves and fewer fishes. But whether it was the place
where he divided the five loaves and two fishes amongst the
five thousand §, or the seven loaves amongst the four thou-
sand ||, I left them to agree among themselves.
Having received great satisfaction in the sight of this
mountain, we returned to the convent the same way that we
came. After dinner we made another small excursion, in
order to see that which they call the Mountain of the Preci-
pitation ; that is, the brow of the hill from which the Nazarites
w^ould have thrown down our blessed Saviour, being incensed
at his sermon preached to them II. This precipice is at least
half a league distant from Nazareth southward. In going to
it, you cross first over the valley in which Nazareth stands,
and then, going down two or three furlongs in a narrow cleft
between the rocks, you there clamber up a short but difficult
way on the right hand, at the top of which you find a great
stone standing on the brink of a precipice, which is said to
be the very place where our Lord was destined to be thrown
down by his enraged neighbours, had he not made a miracu-
lous escape out of their hands *^. There are in the stone
several little holes, resembling the prints of fingers thrust
into it. These, if the friars say truth, are the impresses of
* Matt. V. 14. + Ibid. vi. 16. t Ibid. v. 28.
§ Matt. xiv. 16, &c. II Ibid. xv. 32. H Luke, iv.
** See the account by Sir John de Maundeville, p. 185, and the note.
A.D. 1697.] KETURN TO ACBA. 481
Christ's fingers, made in the hard stone, while he resisted the
yiolence that was offered to him. At this place are seen two
or three cisterns for saving water, and a few ruins, w^hich are
all that now remains of a religious building founded here by
the empress Helena.
April '20. — The next morning we took our leave of Naza-
reth, presenting the guardian five a-piece for his trouble and
charge in entertaining us. We directed our course for Acra,
in order to which, going at first northward, we crossed the
hills that encompassed the vale of Nazareth on that side ;
after which we turned to the westward, and passed in view of
Cana of Galilee, the place signalized with the beginning of
Christ's miracles*. In an hour and a half more we came to
Sepharia, a place reverenced for being the reputed habitation
of Joachim and Anna, the parents of the blessed Virgin. It
had once the name of Diocesaria, and w^as a place of good
repute ; but at present it is reduced to a poor village, showing
only here and there a few ruins to testify its ancient better
condition. On the west side of the town stands good part of
a large church, built on the same place where they say stood
the house of Joachim and Anna ; it is fifty paces long, and in
breadth proportionable.
At Sephira begins the delicious plain of Zebulon. We
were an hour and a half in crossing it, and in an hour and a
half more passed by a desolate village on the right hand, by
name Satyra. In half an hour more we entered the plains
of Acra, and in one hour and a half more arrived at that
place. Our stage, this day, was somewhat less than seven
hours. It lay about west and by north, and through a country
very delightful, and fertile beyond imagination.
Apjil 21. — At Acra we were very courteously treated by the
French consul and merchants, as we had been when outward-
bound. Having staid only one night, we took our leave, and,
returning by the same way of the coast that I have described
before, came the first night to our old lodgings at Solomon's
cisterns, and the second to Sidon.
April 22. — Three hours distant from Sidon, we were carried
by the French consul to see a place which we had passed by
unregarded in our journey outward, though it very well de-
serves a traveller's observation.
* John, ii. 11.
I I
482 PIENRY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697.
At about tlie distance of a mile from tlie sea, there runs
along a high rocky mountain, in the side of which are hewn
a multitude of grottos, all very little differing from each other.
They have entrances of about two feet square. On the inside
you find in most, or all of them, a room of about four yards
square, on the one side of which is the door, on the other
there are as many little cells, elevated about two feet above
the floor. There are of these subterraneous caverns, as I was
informed by those who had counted them, two hundred in
number. They go by the name of the grottos of
The great doubt concerning them is, whether they were made
for the dead or the living. That which makes me doubt of
this is, because, though all the ancient sepulchres in this
country very much resemble these grottos, yet they have
something peculiar in them, which entices one to believe they
might be designed for the reception of the living ; for several
of the cells within were of a figure not fit for having corpses
deposited in them, being some a yard square, some more, and
some less, and seeming to be made for family uses. Over the
door of every cell there was a channel cut to convey the w^ater
away, that it might not annoy the rooms within. And be-
cause the cells were cut above each other, some higher, some
lower, in the side of the rock, there were convenient stairs
cut for the easier communication betwixt the upper and lower
regions. At the bottom of the rock were also several old
cisterns for storing up water. From all which arguments it
may, with probability at least, be concluded, that these places
were contrived for the use of the living, and not of the dead.
But what sort of people they were that inhabited this subter-
raneous city, or how long ago they lived, I am not able to
resolve. True it is, Strabo describes the habitations of the
Troglodytse to have been somewhat of this kind.
April 28. — We continued this day at Sidon, being treated
by our friends of the French nation with great generosity.
April 24. — This morning we took our leave of the worthy
French consul, and the rest of our other friends of that nation,
in order to go for Damascus.
Damascus lies near due east from Sidon. It is usually
esteemed three days' journey distant, the road lying over the
mountain Libanus and Anti-Libanus.
Having gone about half an hour through the olive yards
of Sidon, we came to the foot of Mount Libanus. In two
A.D. 1697.] MOUNT LIBANUS. 483
hours and a half more we came to a small village called
Caphar Milki. Thus far our ascent was easy; but now it
began to grow more steep and difficult ; in which having
laboured one hour and one-third more, we then came to a
fresh fountain called Ambus Lee, where we encamped for this
night. Our whole stage was four hours and one-third ; our
course east.
April 25. — The next day we continued ascending for three
good hours, and then arrived at the highest ridge of the
mountain, where the snow lay close to the road. We began
immediately to descend again on the other side, and in two
hours came to a small village called Meshgarah, where there
gushes out at once from the side of the mountain a plentiful
stream, which falling down into a valley below makes a fine
brook, and, after a current of about two leagues, loses itself
in a river called Letane.
At Meshgarah there is a caphar* demanded by the Druses,
w^ho are the possessors of these mountains. We were for a
little while perplexed by the excessive demand made upon
us by the caphar-men, but finding us obstinate they desisted.
Having gone one hour beyond Meshgarah, we got clear of
the mountain, and entered into a valley called Bocat. This
Bocat seems to be the same with Bicath Aven, mentioned in
Amos i. 5, together with Eden and Damascus, for there is
very near it, in Mount Libanus, a place called Eden to this
day. It might also have the name of Aven, that is. Vanity,
given to it, from the idolatrous worship of Baal, practised at
Balbec, or Heliopolis, which is situate in this valley. The
valley is about two hours over, and in length extends several
days' journey, lying near north-east and south-west. It is
inclosed on both sides with two parallel mountains, exactly
resembling each other, the one that which we lately passed
over between this and Sidon, the other opposite against it,
towards Damascus. The former I take to be the true Libanus,
the latter Anti-Libanus, which two mountains are nowhere so
well distinguished as at this valley.
In the bottom of the valley there runs a large river called
Letane. It rises about two days' journey northward, not far
from Balbec, and, keeping its course all down the valley, falls
* Half per Frank, quarter per servant.
Il2
484 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697.
at last into the river Casimir, or, as it is erroneously called,
Eleutherus.
Thus far our course had been due east, but here we inclined
some points towards the north. Crossing obliquely over the
valley, we came in half an hour to a bridge over the river
Letane. It consists of five stone arches, and is called Kor
Aren, from a village at a little distance of the same name.
At this bridge we crossed the river, and, having travelled
about an hour and a half on its bank, pitched our tents there
for this night. Our whole stage was eight hours.
April 26. — The next morning we continued our oblique
course over the valley Bocat. In an hour we passed close by
a small village called Jib Jeneen, and in three quarters of an
hour more came to the foot of the mountain Anti-Libanus.
Here we had an easy ascent, and in half an hour passed, on
our right hand, by a village called Uzzi. In three quarters
of an hour more we arrived at Ayta, a village of Christians
of the Greek communion. At this last place the road began
to grow very rocky and troublesome, in which having tra-
velled an hour we arrived at a small rivulet called Ayn Tent-
loe. Here we entered into a narrow cleft between two rocky
mountains, passing through which we arrived in four hours
at Demass, gently descending all the w^ay. At Demass a
small caphar^- is demanded, which being despatched, we put
forward again, but had not gone above an hour and a half
when it grew dark, and we were forced to stop at a very in-
hospitable place, but the best we could find, affording no grass
for our horses, nor any water, but just enough to breed frogs,
by which we were serenaded all night.
A2oril. 27. — Early the next morning we deserted this un-
comfortable lodging, and in about an hour arrived at the river
Barrady, our road still descending. This is the river that
waters Damascus, and enriches it with all its plenty and
pleasure. It is not so much as twenty yards over, but comes
pouring dovm from the mountains with great rapidity, and
with so vast a body of water, that it abundantly supplies all
the thirsty gardens, and the city of Damascus.
We crossed Barrady at a new bridge over it called Dummar.
On the other side our road ascended, and in half an hour
* A quarter per head.
A.D. 1697.] DAMASCUS. 485
brought us to the brink of a high precipice, at the bottom of
which the river runs, the mountain being here cleft asunder
to give it admission into the plain below.
At the highest part of the precipice is erected a small
structure, like a sheikh's sepulchre, concerning which the
Turks relate this story: — That their prophet, coming near
Damascus, took his station at that place for some time, in
order to view the city, and, considering the ravishing beauty
and delightfulness of it, he would not tempt his frailty by
entering into it, but instantly departed, with this reflection
upon it, that there was but one Paradise designed for man,
and, for his part, he was resolved not to take his in this
world.
You have, indeed, from the precipice, the most perfect
prospect of Damascus. And certainly no place in the world
can promise the beholder, at a distance, greater voluptuous-
ness. It is situate in an even plain of so great extent, that
you can but just discern the mountains that compass it on the
farther side. It stands on the west side of the plain, at not
above two miles' distance from the place where the river Bar-
rady breaks out from between the mountains, its gardens ex-
tending almost to the very place.
The city itself is of a long straight figure, its ends point-
ing near north-east and south-west. It is very slender in the
middle, but swells bigger at each end, especially at that to
the north-east. In its length, as far as I could guess by my
eye, it may extend near two miles. It is thick-set with
mosques and steeples, the usual ornaments of the Turkish
cities, and is encompassed with gardens extending no less,
according to common estimation, than thirty miles round,
which makes it look like a noble city in a vast wood. The
gardens are thick-set with fruit-trees of all kinds, kept fresh
and verdant by the waters of Barrady. You discover in them
many turrets, and steeples, and summer-houses frequently
peeping out from among the green boughs, which may be con-
ceived to add no small advantage and beauty to the prospect.
On the north side of this vast wood is a place called Solhees,
where are the most beautiful summer-houses and gardens.
The greatest part of this pleasantness and fertility pro-
ceeds, as I said, from the waters of Barrady, which supply
both the gardens and city in great abundance. This river,
as soon as it issues out from between the cleft of the moun-
486 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697.
tain before mentioned into tlie plain, is immediately divided
into three streams, of which the middlemost and biggest runs
directly to Damascus through a large open iield called the
Ager Damascenus, and is distributed to all the cisterns and
fountains of the city. The other two, which I take to be the
work of art, are drawn round, one to the right hand, and the
other to the left, on the borders of the gardens, into which
they are let as they pass by little currents, and so dispersed
all over the vast wood, insomuch that there is not a garden
but has a fine quick stream running through it, which serves
not only for watering the place, but is also improved into foun-
tains and other waterworks very delightful, though not con-
trived with that variety of exquisite art which is used in
Christendom.
Barrady, being thus described, is almost wholly drunk up
by the city and gardens. What small part of it escapes is
united, as I was informed, in one channel again, on the south-
east side of the city ; and, after about three or four hours'
course, finally loses itself in a bog there without ever arriving
at the sea.
The Greeks, and, from them, the Romans, call this river
Chrysorrhoas ; but as for Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Da-
mascus, mentioned in 2 Kings, v. 12, I could find no memory
so much as of the names remaining. They must doubtless
have been only two branches of the river Barrady ; and one
of them was probably the same stream that now runs through
the Ager Damascenus, directly to the city, which seems, by
its serpentine way, to be a natural channel. The other I
know not well where to find ; but it is no wonder, seeing they
may and do turn and alter the courses of this river according
to their own convenience and pleasure.
We continued a good while upon the precipice to take a
view of the city ; and indeed it is a hard matter to leave a
station which presents you so charming a landscape. It ex-
hibits the paradise below as a most fair and delectable place,
and yet will hardly suffer you to stir away to go to it ; thus at
once inviting you to the city by the pleasure which it seems
to promise, and detaining you from it by the beauty of the
prospect.
Coming down the hill into the plain, we w^ere there met by
a janissary from the convent, sent to conduct us into the city
He did not think fit to carry us in at the west gate (which was
A.D. 1697.] DAMASCUS. 487
nearest at hand), and so all across the city to the Latin con-
vent where we were to lodge, for fear the Damascenes, who are
a very bigoted and insolent race, shoukl be offended at so
great a numbei' of Franks as we were ; to avoid which danger
he led us round about the gardens before we arrived at the
gate. The garden walls are of a very singular structure.
They are built of great pieces of earth, made in the fashion
of brick and hardened in the sun. In their dimensions they
are each two yards long, and somew^hat more than one broad,
and half a yard thick. Two rows of these, placed edgewise
one upon another, make a cheap, expeditious, and, in this dry
country, a durable wall.
In passing between the gardens we ako observed their
method of scouring the channels. They put a great bough
of a tree in the water, and fasten to it a yo]:e of oxen. Upon
the bough there sits a good weighty fellow, to press it down to
the bottom and to drive the oxen. In this equipage the bough
is dragged all along the channel, and serves at once both to
cleanse the bottom, and also to mud and fatten the water for
the greater benefit of the gardens.
Entering at the east gate, we went immediately to the con-
vent, and were very courteously received by the guardian,
father Raphael, a Majorkine by birth, and a person who,
though he has dedicated himself to the contemplative life, yet
is not unfit for any affairs of the active.
April 28. — This morning we walked out to take a view of
the city. The first place we went to visit was the house of an
eminent Turk. The streets here are narrow, as is usual in
hot countries, and the houses are all built, on the outside, of
no better a material than either sun-burnt brick or Flemish
wall, daubed over in as coarse a manner ns can be seen in the
vilest cottages. From this dirty way of building they have
this amongst other inconveniences, that upon any violent rain
the whole city becomes, by the washing of the houses, as it
were a quagmire.
It may be wondered what should induce the people to build
in this base manner when they have, in the adjacent mountains, •
such plenty of good stone for noble fabrics. I can give no
reason for it, unless this may pass for such, that those who
first planted here, finding so delicious a situation, were in
haste to come to the enjoyment of it ; and therefore nimbly
set up those extemporary habitations, being unwilling to defer
488 HENRY MAUNDEELL. [a.D. 1697.
their pleasures so long as whilst they might erect more mag-
nificent structures, which primitive example their successors
have followed ever since.
But, however, in these mud walls you find the gates and
doors adorned with marhle portals, carved and inlaid with
great beauty and variety. It is an object not a little sur-
prising to see mud and marble, state and sordidness, so
mingled together.
In the inside the houses discover a very different face from
what you see without. Here you find generally a large square
court, beautified with a variety of fragrant trees and marble
fountains, and compassed round with splendid apartments and
divans. The divans are floored and adorned on the sides with
variety of marble, mixed in mosaic knots and mazes. The
ceilings and traves are, after the Turkish manner, richly
painted and gilded. They have generally artificial fountains
springing up before them in marble basins ; and, as for carpets
and cushions, are furnished out to the height of luxury. Of
these divans they have generally several on all sides of the
court, being placed at such different points that, at one or
other of them, you may always have either the shade or the
sun, which you please.
Such as I have described was the house we went to see ;
and I was told the rest resemble the same description.
In the next place we went to see the church of St. John the
Baptist, now converted into a mosque, and held too sacred for
Christians to enter, or almost to look into. However we had
three short views of it, looking in at three several gates. Its
gates are vastly large, and covered with brass, stamped all
over with Arab characters, and in several places with the
figure of a chalice, supposed to be the ancient ensigns or arms
of the Mamelukes. On the north side of the church is a
spacious court, which I could not conjecture to be less than
one hundred and fifty yards long and eighty or one hundred
broad. The court is paved all over, and inclosed on the south
side by the church, on the other three sides by a double
cloister, supported by two row^s of granite pillars of the
Corinthian order, exceedingly lofty and beautiful.
On the south side the church joins to the bazaars ; and
there we had an opportunity just to peep into it. It is,
within, spacious and lofty, built with three aisles, between
which are rows of polished pillars of surpassing beauty, unless,
A.D. 1697.] THE CARAVAN TO MECCA. 489
perhaps, we were tempted to overvalue what was so sparingly
permitted to our survey.
In this church are kept the head of St. John, and some
other relics esteemed so holy that it is death even for a Turk
to presume to go into the room where they are kept. We are
told here, by a Turk of good fashion, that Christ was to
descend into this mosque at the day of judgment, as
Mohammed was to do into that of Jerusalem ; hut the ground
and reason of this tradition I could not learn.
From the church we went to the castle, which stands about
two furlongs distant towards the west. It is a good building
of the rustic manner. In length it is three hundred and
forty paces, and in breadth somewhat less. We were ad-
mitted but just within the gate, where we saw store of ancient
arms and armour, the spoils of the Christians in former times.
Amongst the artillery was an old Roman balista ; but this was
a place not long to be gazed upon by such as we were. At the
east end of the castle there hangs down, in the middle of the
wall, a short chain cut in stone, of what use I know not, unless
to boast the skill of the artificer.
Leaving this place, we went to view the bazaars, which we
found crowded with people, but destitute of any thing else
worth observing.
April 29. — Very early this morning we went to see the
yearly great pomp of the hadgees setting out on their pil-
grimage to Mecca ^'^'^ Ustan, pasha of Tripoli, being appointed
their emir or conductor for this year. For our better security
from the insolences of the over-zealous votaries, we hired a
shop in one of the bazaars through which they were to pass.
In this famous cavalcade there came, first, forty-six dellees,
that is religious madmen, carrying each a silk streamer,
mixed either of red and green, or of yellow and green ; after
these came three troops of segmen, an order of soldiers
amongst the Turks ; and next to them some troops of saphees,
another order of soldiery. These were followed by eight
companies of Mugrubines (so the Turks call the Barbaroses)
on foot. These were fellows of a very formidable aspect, and
were designed to be left in a garrison, maintained by the
Turks somewhere in the desert of Arabia, and relieved every
year with fresh men. In the midst of the Mugrubines there
* This account may be compared with De la Brocquiere's description of
the Mecca caravan, p. 301 of the present volume.
490 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
passed six small pieces of ordnance. In the next place came,
on foot, the soldiers of the castle of Damascus, fantastically
armed with coats of mail, gauntlets, and other pieces of old
armour. These were followed by two troops of janissaries and
their aga, all mounted. Next were brought the pasha's two
horse tails, ushered by the aga of the court ; and next after
the tails followed six led horses, all of excellent shape and
nobly furnished. Over the saddle there was a girth upon each
led horse, and a large silver target gilded with gold. After
these horses came the mahmal. This is a large pavilion
of black silk, pitched upon the back of a very great camel,
and spreading its curtains all round about the beast down to
the ground. The pavilion is adorned at top with a gold ball,
and with gold fringes round about. The camel that carries
it wants not also his ornaments of large ropes of beads, fish-
shells, fox-tails, and other such fantastical finery, hanged upon
his head, neck, and legs. All this is designed for the state of
the Alcoran, which is placed with great reverence under the
pavilion, where it rides in state both to and from Mecca. The
Alcoran is accompanied with a rich new carpet, which the
Grand Signer sends every year for the covering of Mohammed's
tomb, having the old one brought back in return for it, which
is esteemed of an inestimable value after having been so long
next neighbour to the prophet's rotten bones. The beast
which carries this sacred load has the privilege to be exempted
from all other burdens ever after. After the mahmal came
another troop, and with them the pasha himself; and, last of
all, twenty loaded camels, with which the train ended, having
been three quarters of an hour in passing.
Having observed what we could of this show, which perhaps
was never seen by Franks before, we went to view some other
curiosities. The first place we came to was the Ager
Damascenus, a long, beautiful meadow, just without the city
on the west side. It is divided in the middle by that branch
of the river Barrady which supplies the city, and is taken
notice of because of a tradition current here that Adam was
made of the earth of this field.
Adjoining the Ager Damascenus is a large hospital. It has
within it a pleasant square court, inclosed on the south side
by a stately mosque, and on its other sides by cloisters and
lodgings of no contemptible structure.
Eeturning from hence homeward, we were shown, by the
A.D. 1697.] DAMASCUS. 491
way, a very beautiful bagnio ; and not far from it a coffee
house capable of entertaining four or five hundred people,
shaded over head with trees, and with mats when the boughs
fail. It had two quarters for the reception of guests, one
proper for the summer, the other for the winter. That
designed for the summer was a small island, washed all round
with a large, swift stream, and shaded over head with mats
and trees. We found here a multitude of Turks upon the
divans, regaling themselves in this pleasant place, there being
nothing which they behold with so much delight as greens
and water, to which, if a beautiful face be added, they have a
proverb that all three together make a perfect antidote against
melancholy.
In the afternoon we went to visit the house which, they say,
w^as some time the house of Ananias, the restorer of sight to
St. Paul*. The place shown for it is, according to the old
rule, a small grotto or cellar, affording nothing remarkable
but only that there are in it a Christian altar and a Turkish
praying place, seated nearer to each other than well agrees
with the nature of such places.
Our next walk was out of the east gate, in order to see the
place (they say) of St. Paul's vision, and what else is observable
on that side. The place of the vision is about half a mile
distant from the city eastward. It is close by the wayside,
and has no building to distinguish it, nor do I believe it ever
had ; only there is a small rock or heap of gravel which serves
to point out the place.
About two furlongs nearer the city is a small timber struc-
ture, resembling the cage of a country borough. Within it is
an altar erected. There, you are told, the holy apostle rested
for some time in his way to this city after his vision f.
Being returned to the city, we were shown the gate at which
St. Paul w^as let down in a basket j. This gate is at present
walled up by reason of its vicinity to the east gate, which
renders it of little use.
Entering again into the city, we went to see the great
patriarch residing in this city. He was a person of about
forty years of age. The place of his residence was mean, and
his person and converse promised not any thing extraordinary.
He told me there were more than one thousand two hundred
souls of the Greek communion in that city.
* Acts, ix. 17. t -^cts, ix. 8. t Acts, ix. 25.
492 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697.
April 30. — The next day we went to visit the gardens, and
to spend a day there. The place where we disposed of our-
selves was about a mile out of town. It afforded us a very
pleasant summer-house, having a plentiful stream of water
running through it. The garden was thick-set with fruit trees,
but without any art or order. Such as this are all the gardens
hereabouts ; only with this odds, that some of them have their
summer-houses more splendid than others, and their waters
improved into greater variety of fountains. In visiting these
gardens, Franks are obliged either to walk on foot, or else to
ride upon asses, the insolence of the Turks not allowing them
to mount on horseback. To serve them upon these occasions
here are hackney asses always standing ready equipped for
hire. When you are mounted, the master of the ass follows
his beast to the place where you are disposed to go, goading
him up behind with a sharp-pointed stick, which makes him
despatch his stage with great expedition. It is apt sometimes
to give a little disgust to the generous traveller to be forced
to submit to such marks of scorn ; but there is no remedy ;
and, if the traveller will take my advice, his best way will be
to mount his ass contentedly and to turn the affront into a
motive of recreation, as we did. Having spent the day in the
garden, we returned in the evening to the convent.
May 1. — The next day we spent at another garden, not far
distant from the former, but far exceeding it in the beauty of
its summer-house and the variety of its fountains.
Sunday, May 2. — We went, as many of us as were dis-
posed, to Sydonaiia, a Greek convent about four hours distant
from Damascus to the northward, or north by east. The road,
excepting only tw^o steep ascents, is very good. In this stage
we passed by two villages, the first called Tall, the second
Meneen. At a good distance on the right hand is a very high
hill, reported to be the same on which Cain and Abel offered
their sacrifices, and where also the former slew his brother,
setting the first example of bloodshed to the world.
Sydonaiia is situated at the farther side of a large vale, on
the top of a rock. The rock is cut with steps all up. without
which it would be inaccessible. It is fenced all round at the
top, with a strong wall, which incloses the convent. It is a
place of very mean structure, and contains nothing in it
extraordinary, but only the v/ine made here, which is indeed
most excellent. This place was at first founded and endowed
by the emperor Justinian. It is at present possessed by
A.D. 1697.] SYDONAIIA, 493
twenty Greek monks and forty nuns, wno seem to live pro-
miscuously together, without any order or separation.
Here are upon this rock, and within a little compass round
about it, no less than sixteen churches and oratories, dedi-
cated to several names. The first, to St. John ; second, to
St. Paul; third, to St. Thomas; fourth, to St. Babylas; fifth,
to St. Barbara; sixth, to St. Christopher; seventh, to St.
Joseph; eighth, to St. Lazarus; ninth, to the blessed Virgin;
tenth, to St. Demetrius; eleventh, to St. Saba; twelfth, to St.
Peter; thirteenth, to St. George; fourteenth, to All Saints;
fifteenth, to the Ascension; sixteenth, to the Transfiguration
of our Lord ; from all which, w^e may well conclude this place was
held anciently in no small repute for sanctity. Many of these
churches I actually visited, but found them so ruined and
desolate, that I had not courage to go to all.
In the chapel made use of by the convent for their daily
services, they pretend to show a great miracle, done here
some years since, of which take this account, as I received it
from them. They had once in the church a little picture of
the blessed Virgin, very much resorted to by supplicants, and
famous for the many cures and blessings granted in return to
their prayers. It happened that a certain sacrilegious rogue
took an opportunity to steal away this miraculous picture ; but
he had not kept it long in his custody, when he found it
metamorphosed into a real body of flesh. Being struck with
wonder and remorse at so prodigious an event, he carried
back the prize to its true owners, confessing and imploring
forgiveness for his crime. The monks having recovered so
great a jewel, and being willing to prevent such another
disaster for the future, thought fit to deposit it in a small
chest of stone, and placing it in a little cavity in the wall
behind the high altar, fixed an iron gate before it, in order to
secure it from any fraudulent attempts for the future. Upon
the gates there are hanged abundance of little toys and
trinkets, being the offerings of many votaries in return for
the success given to their prayers at this shrine. Under the
same chest in which the incarnate picture was deposited they
always place a small silver basin, in order to receive the
distillation of a holy oil, which they pretend issues out from
the inclosed image, and does wonderful cures in many dis-
tempers, especially those affecting the eyes.
On the east side of the rock is an ancient sepulchre
494 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
hollowed in the firm stone. The room is about eight yards
square, and contains in its sides (as I remember) twelve
chests for corpses. Over the entrance there are carved six
statues as big as the life, standing in three niches, two in each
niche. At the pedestals of the statues may be observed a few
Greek words, which, as far as I was able to discern them in
their present obscurity, are as follows : —
I [O T] A . <D I [A I
n] n I K o 2
[kJai aomncina
TYNH
Under the second.
ETOYCKD - -
IOTA. APTE
12IAIP02 KAI
nPElFKY TTNTH
Under the first niche.
IOTA . AHMH
TPIOS KA [l] A [PI]
AANH FY [NH] "
nANTAS EnOIOT [n]
Under the third.
A gentleman in our company, and myself, have reason to
remember this place, for an escape we had in it. A drunken
janissary, passing under the window where we were, chanced
to have a drop of wine thrown out upon his vest, upon which
innocent provocation he presented his pistol at us in at the
window; had it gone off, it must have been fatal to one
or both of us, w^ho sat next the place. But it pleased God
to restrain his fury. This evening we returned again to
Damascus.
May 3. — This morning we went to see the street called
Straight'!^. It is about half a mile in length, running from
east to west through the city. It being narrow, and the
houses jutting out in several places on both sides, you cannot
have a clear prospect of its length and straightness. In this
street is shown the house of Judas, with whom St. Paul
lodged ; and in the same house is an old tomb, said to be
Ananias s, but how he should come to be buried here they
could not tell us, nor could we guess ; his own house being
shown us in another place. However, the Turks have a
reverence for his tomb, and maintain a lamp always burning
over it.
In the afternoon, having presented the convent with ten
per man for our kind reception, we took our leaves of
Damascus, and shaped our course for Tripoli; designing in
the way to see Balbec, and the cedars of Libanus. In
order to this, we returned the same way by which we came,
and, crossing the river Barrady again at the bridge of Dum-
mar, came to a village of the same nam.e a little farther,
* Acts, ix. 11.
A.D. 1697.] BALBEC. 495
and there lodged this night. We travelled this afternoon
three hours.
May 4. — This morning we left our old road, and took
another more northerly. In an hour and a half we came to
a small village called Sinie ; just by which is an ancient
structure on the top of a high hill, supposed to be the tomb
of Abel, and to have given the adjacent country in old times
the name of Abilene. The fratricide also is said by some to
have been committed in this place. The tomb is thirty yards
long, and yet it is here believed to have been but just pro-
portioned to the stature of him who was buried in it. Here
we entered into a narrow gut, between two steep rocky moun-
tains, the river Barrady running at the bottom. On the
other side of the river were several tall pillars, which excited
our curiosity to go and take a nearer view of them. We
found them part of the front of some ancient and very mag-
nificent edifice, but of what kind we could not conjecture.
We continued upon the banks of Barrady, and came in
three hours to a village called Maday ; and in two hours more
to a fountain called Ain-il-Hawra, where we lodged. Our
whole stage was somewhat less than seven hours ; our course
nearly north-west.
May 5. — This morning we passed by the fountain of
Barrady, and came in an hour and two-thirds to a village
called Surgawich. At this place we left the narrow valley, in
which we had travelled ever since the morning before, and
ascended the mountain on the left hand. Having spent in
crossing it two hours, w^e arrived a second time in the valley
of Bocat; here, steering northerly, directly up the valley,
we arrived in three hours at Balbec. Our stage this day
was near seven hours, and our course near about west.
At Balbec we pitched at a place less than half a mile
distant from the town, eastward, near a plentiful and delicious
fountain, which grows immediately into a brook; and running
down to Balbec, adds no small pleasure and convenience to
the place.
In the afternoon we walked out to see the city. But we
thought fit before we entered to get licence of the governor,
and to proceed with all caution ; being taught this necessary
care by the example of some worthy English gentlemen of
our factory, who, visiting this place in the year 1689, in their
return from Jerusalem, and suspecting no mischief, were
496 HENEY MAUNDRELI [aD. 1697.
basely intrigued by the people here, and forced to redeem
their lives at a great sum of money.
Balbec is supposed to be the ancient Heliopolis, or City of
the Sun ; for that the word imports. Its present Arab, which
is perhaps its most ancient name, inclines to the same im-
portance. For Baal, though it imports all idols in general,
of whatsoever sex or condition, yet it is very often appropri-
ated to the sun, the sovereign idol of this country.
The city enjoys a most delightful and commodious situation,
on the east side of the valley of Bocat. It is of a square
figure, compassed with a tolerable good wall, in which are
towers all round at equal distances. It extends, as far as I
could guess by the eye, about two furlongs on a side. Its
houses within are all of the meanest structure, such as are
usually seen in Turkish villages.
At the south-west side of this city is a noble ruin, being the
only curiosity for which this place is wont to be visited. It
was anciently a heathen temple, together with some other
edifices belonging to it, all truly magnificent ; but in latter
times these ancient structures have been patched and pieced
up with several other buildings, converting the whole into a
castle, under which name it goes at this day. The adjectitious
buildings are of no mean architecture, but yet easily distin-
guishable from what is more ancient.
Coming near these ruins, the first thing you meet with is a
little round pile of building, all of marble. It is encircled
with columns of the Corinthian order, very beautiful, which
support a cornice that runs all round the structure, of no
ordinary state and beauty. The part of it that remains is at '
present in a very tottering condition, but yet the Greeks use
it for a church ; and it were well if the danger of its falling,
which perpetually threatens, would excite those people to use
a little more fervour in their prayers than they generally do,
the Greeks being, seemingly, the most undevout and negli-
gent at their divine service of any sort of people in the
Christian world.
From this ruin you come to a large firm pile of building,
which, though very lofty and composed of huge square stones,
yet, I take to be part of the adjectiticus work; for one sees
in the inside some fragments of images in the walls and
stones, with Roman letters upon them, set the wrong way.
In one stone we found graven d i v i s, and in another line,
AD. 1697.] BALBEC. 497
M 0 s c. Through this pile, you pass in a stately arched walk
or portico, one hundred and fifty paces long, which leads you
to the temple.
The temple is an oblong square, in breadth thirty-two
yards, and in length sixty-four, of which eighteen were taken
up by the Tr^oj/aog or ante-temple, which is now tumbled down,
the pillars being broke that sustained it. The body of the
temple, which now stands, is encompassed with a noble
portico, supported by pillars of the Corinthian order, measur-
ing six feet and three inches in diameter, and about forty-five
feet in height, consisting all of three stones apiece. The
distance of the pillars from each other, and from the wall of
the temple, is nine feet. Of these pillars there are fourteen
on each side of the temple, and eight at the end, counting the
corner pillars in both numbers.
On the capitals of the pillars there runs all round a stately
architrave and cornice, rarely carved. The portico is covered
with large stones hollowed archwise, extending between the
columns and the wall of the temple. In the centre of each
stone is carved the figure of some one or other of the heathen
gods or goddesses, or heroes. I remember amongst the
rest a Ganymede, and the eagle flying away with him, so
lively done that it excellently represented the sense of that
verse in Martial,
'' Illaesum timidis unguibus liaesit onus."
The gate of the temple is twenty-one feet wide, but how
high could not be measured, it being in part filled up with
rubbish. It is moulded and beautified all round with exqui-
site sculpture. On the nethermost side of the portal is
carved a Fame hovering over the head, as you enter, and
extending its wings two-thirds of the breadth of the gate ;
and on each side of the eagle is described a Fame, likewise
upon the wiug. The eagle carries in its pounces a caduceus.
and in his beak the strings or ribbons coming from the ends
of two festoons, whose other ends are held and supported on
each side by the two Fames. The whole seemed to be a
piece of admirable sculpture.
The measure of the temple within is forty yards in length,
and twenty in breadth. In its walls all round are two rows
of pilasters, one above the other ; and between the pilasters
are niches, which seem to have been designed for the recep-
K K
498 HENEY MAUNDEELL. [a.D. 1697.
tion of idols. Of these pilasters there are eight in a row on
each side ; and of the niches, nine.
About eight yards' distance from the upper end of the
temple stands part of two fine channelled pillars, which seem
to have made a partition in that place, and to have supported
a canopy over the throne of the chief idol, whose station
appears to have been in a large niche at this end. On that
part of the partition which remains are to be seen carvings
in rilievo representing Neptune, Tritons, Fishes, Sea-gods,
Arion and his dolphin, and other marine figures. The cover-
ing of the whole fabric is totally broken down ; but yet this I
must say of the whole as it now stands, that it strikes the
mind with an air of greatness beyond any thing that I ever
saw before, and is an eminent proof of the magnificence of the
ancient architecture.
About fifty yards distant from the temple is a row of
Corinthian pillars, very great and lofty, with a most stately
architrave and cornice at top. This speaks itself to have been
part of some very august pile ; but what one now sees of it is
but just enough to give a regret that there should be no more
of it remaining.
Here is another curiosity of this place, which a man had
need be well assured of his credit before he ventures to relate,
lest he should be thought to strain the privilege of a traveller
too far. That which I mean is a large piece of the old wall, or
9r£^ti5oAoc, which encompassed all these structures last described.
A wall made of such monstrous great stones, that the natives
hereabouts (as it is usual in things of this strange nature)
ascribe it to the architecture of the devil. Three of the
stones, which were larger than the rest, we took the pains to
measure, and found them to extend sixty-one 3^ards in length;
one twenty-one, the other two each twenty yards. In deep-
ness tbey were four yards each, and in breadth of the same
dimension. These three stones lay in one and the same
row, end to end. The rest of the wall was made also of great
stones, but none, I think, so great as these. That which
added to the wonder was, that these stones were lifted up into
the wall more than twenty feet from the ground.
In the side of a small ascent, on the east part of the town,
stood an old single column, of the Tuscan order, about
eighteen or nineteen yards high, and one yard and a half in
diameter. It had a channel cut in its side from the bottom
A.D. 1697.] BALBEC. 499
to the top, from which we judged it might have been erected
for the sake of raising water.
At our return to our tents we were a little perplexed
by the servants of the mosolem, about our caphar. We were
contented at last to judge it at ten per Frank, and five per
servant, rather than we w^ould engage in a long dispute at
such a place as this.
Near the place where we lodged was an old mosque, and
(as I said before) a fine fountain. This latter had been
anciently beautified with some handsome stone- work round it,
which was now almost ruined; however, it afforded us this
imperfect inscription.
TfiNXEIMEPEI^N n..ONEaKTlCTOCnANN
BAEnEINAEAQKEN O P P E C T E K A I N E O N
XPYCONnAPACXC.CnClBIOCTEMErAC.
TAapTENYN-PEKTinHrAIONnOAY
EYXAIC0EOAOTOYTOY OClOYEniCKOCTOY.
May 6. — Early this morning we departed from Balbec,
directing our course straight across the valley. As we passed
by the walls of the city, we observed many stones inscribed
with Roman letters and names, but all confused, and some
placed upside down, which demonstrates that the materials of
the wall were the ruins of the ancient city. In one place
we found these letters, rmtptitvepr; in others these,
VAEi---; in another, neris; in others, lvcil---, and
s E V E R I, and c e l n a e, and f i r m i ; all which serve
only to denote the resort which the Romans had to this
place in ancient times.
In one hour we passed by a village called Ye-ad ; and in
an hour more w^ent to see an old monumental pillar, a little
on the right hand of the road It Avas nineteen yards high,
and five feet in diameter, of the Corinthian order. It had a
table for an inscription on its north side, but the letters are
now perfectly erased. In one hour more we reached the
other side of the valley, at the foot of Mount Anti-Libanus.
We immediately ascended the mountain, and in two hours
came to a large cavity between the hills, at the bottom of
which was a lake called by its old Greek name, Limone. It
is about three furlongs over, and derives its waters from the
melting of the snow. By this lake our guides would have
K K 2
§00 HENKY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697.
had us stay all niglit, assuring us that if we went up higher
in the mountains we should be forced to lie amongst the
snow ; but we ventured that, preferring a cold lodging before
an unwholesome one. Having ascended one hour, we arrived
at the snow, and proceeding amongst it for one hour and a half
more, we then chose out as warm a place as we could in so
high a region ; and there we lodged this night upon the very
top of Libanus. Our whole stage this day was seven hours
and a half.
Libanus is in this part free from rocks, and only rises and
falls with small, easy unevennesses, for several hours' riding ;
but is perfectly barren and desolate. The ground, where not
concealed by the snow, appeared to be covered with a sort of
white slates, thin and smooth. The chief benefit it serves
for is, that by its exceeding height it proves a conservatory
for abundance of snow, which, thawing in the heat of summer,
affords supplies of water to the rivers and fountains in the
valleys below. We saw in the snow prints of the feet of
several wild beasts, which are the sole proprietors of these
upper parts of the mountains.
May 7. — The next morning we went four hours almost
perpetually upon deep snow, which, being frozen, bore us and
our horses; and then descending for about one hour, came to
a fountain called, from the name of an adjacent village, Ain-
il-Hadede. By this time we were got into a milder and
better region.
Here was the place where we were to strike out of the way,
in order to go to Canobine and the cedars. And some of us
went upon this design, whilst the rest chose rather to go
directly for Tripoli, to which we had not now above four
hours. We took with us a guide, who pretended to be well
acquainted with the way to Canobine, but he proved an
ignorant director ; and after he had led us about for several
hours in intricate and untrodden mazes amongst the moun-
tains, finding him perfectly at a loss, we were forced to
forsake our intended visit for the present, and to steer
directly for Tripoli, where we arrived late at night, and
were again entertained by our worthy friends, Mr. Consul
Hastings and Mr. Fisher, with their wonted friendship and
generosity.
May 8. — In the afternoon Mr. Consul Hastings carried us
to see the castle of Tripoli. It is pleasantly situated on a
A.D. 1697.] CEDAES OF LEBANON. 501
hill, commanding the city, but has neither arms nor ammu-
nition in it, and serves rather for a prison than a garrison.
There was shut up in it at this time a poor Christian prisoner,
called Sheikh Eunice, a Maronite. He was one that had for-
merly renounced his faith, and lived for many years in the
Mohammedan religion, hut in his declining age he both re-
tracted his apostacy and died to atone for it, for he was im-
paled by the order of the pasha two days after we left Tripoli.
This punishment of impaling is commonly executed amongst
the Turks for crimes of the greatest degree, and is certainly
one of the greatest indignities and barbarities that can be
offered to human nature. The execution is done in this
manner. They take a post of about the bigness of a man's
leg, and eight or nine feet long, and make it very sharp at
one end. This they lay upon the back of the criminal, and
force him to carry it to the place of execution, imitating
herein the old Roman custom of compelling malefactors to
bear their cross. Being arrived at the fatal place, they thrust
in the stake at the fundament of the person who is the miser-
able subject of this doom, and then taking him by the legs,
draw on his body upon it, till the point of the stake appears
at his shoulders. After this they erect the stake, and fasten
it in a hole dug in the ground. The criminal, sitting in this
manner upon it, remains not only still alive, but also drinks,
smokes, and talks, as one perfectly sensible, and thus some
have continued for twenty-four hours ; but generally, after the
tortured wretch has remained in this deplorable and igno-
minious posture an hour or two, some one of the standers by
is permitted to give him a gracious stab to the heart, so put-
ting an end to his inexpressible misery.
Sunday, May 9. — Despairing of any other opportunity, I
made another attempt this day to see the cedars and Cano-
bine. Having gone for three hours across the plain of Tri-
poli, I arrived at the foot of Libanus, and from thence, con-
tinually ascending, not without great fatigue, came in four
hours and a half to a small village called Eden, and in two
hours and a half more to the cedars. These noble trees
grow amongst the snow near the highest part of Lebanon,
and are remarkable as well for their own age and largeness
as for those frequent allusions made to them in the word of
God. Here are some of them very old, and of a prodigious
bulk, and others younger, of a smaller size. Of the former
50S HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1697.
I could reckon up only sixteen, and the latter are very nume-
rous. I measured one of the largest, and found it twelve
yards six inches in girth, and yet sound, and thirty-seven
yards in the spread of its boughs. At about five or six yards
from the ground it was divided into five limbs, each of which
was equal to a great tree.
After about half an hour spent in surveying this place, the
clouds began to thicken, and to fly along upon the ground,
w^hich so obscured the road that my guide was very much at
a loss to find our way back again. We rambled about for
seven hours thus bewildered, which gave me no small fear of
being forced one night more at Libanus ; but at last, after a
long exercise of pains and patience, we arrived at the way
that goes down to Canobine, where I arrived by the time it
was dark, and found a kind reception, answerable to the great
need I had of it, after so long fatigue.
Canobine is a convent of the Slaronites, and the seat of
the patriarch, w^ho is at present F. Stephanus Edenensis, a
person of great learning and humanity. It is a very mean
structure ; but its situation is admirably adapted for retire-
ment and devotion, for there is a very deep rupture in the
side of Libanus, running at least seven hours' travel directly
up into the mountain. It is on both sides exceeding steep
and high, clothed with fragrant greens from top to bottom,
and everywhere refreshed with fountains, falling down from
the rocks in pleasant cascades, the ingenious work of nature.
These streams, all uniting at the bottom, make a full and rapid
torrent, whose agreeable murmuring is heard all over the place,
and adds no small pleasure to it. Canobine is seated on the
north side of this chasm, on the steep of the mountain, at
about the midway between the top and the bottom. It stands
at the mouth of a great cave, having a few small rooms
fronting outward that enjoy the light of the sun, the rest are
all under ground. It had for its founder the emperor Theo-
dosius the Great ; and though it has been several times re-
built, yet the patriarch assured me the church was of the
primitive foundation ; but, whoever built it, it is a mean
fabric, and no great credit to its founder. It stands in the
grotto, but fronting outwards receives a little light from that
side. In the same side there were also hung in the wall two
small bells to call the monks to their devotions ; a privilege
allowed nowhere else in this country, nor would they be suf-
A.D. 1697.] EETURN TO ALEPPO. 503
fered here, but that the Turks are far enough off from the
hearing of them.
The valley of Canobine was anciently, as it well deserves,
very much resorted to for religious retirement. You see here
still hermitages, cells, monasteries, almost without number.
There is not any little part of rock that jets out upon the
side of the mountain, but you generally see some little struc-
ture upon it for the reception of monks and hermits, though
few or none of them are now inhabited.
May 1 0. — After dinner I took my leave of the patriarch,
and returned to Tripoli. I steered my course down by a nar-
row oblique path cut in the side of the rupture, and found
it three hours before I got clear of the mountains, and three
more afterwards before I came to Tripoli.
May 1 1 . — This day we took our leaves of our worthy Tri-
poli friends, in order to return for Aleppo. We had some
debate with ourselves, whether we should take the same way
by which we came when outward bound, or a new one by
Emissa, Hempse, and Hamal. But we had notice of some
disturbances upon this latter road, so we contented ourselves
to return by the same way we came ; for having had enough
by this time both of the pleasure and of the fatigue of tra-
velling, we were willing to put an end to both the nearest
and speediest way. All that occurred to us new in these
days' travel was a particular way used by the country people
in gathering their corn, it being now harvest time. They
plucked it up by handfuls from the roots, leaving the most
fruitful fields as naked as if nothing had ever grown on
them. This was their practice in all places of the east that
I have seen ; and the reason is that they may lose none of
their straw, which is generally very short, and necessary for
the sustenance of their cattle, no hay being here made. I
mention this, because it seems to give light to that expression
of the Psalmist, " which withereth before it be plucked up,"^'
where there seems to be a manifest allusion to this custom.
Our new translation renders this place otherwise ; but in so
doing it differs from most or all other copies, and here we •
may truly say the old is the better. There is indeed men-
tion of a mower in the next verse, but then it is such a
mower as fills not his hand, which confirms rather than
weakens the preceding interpretation.
* Psalms, cxxix. 6.
504 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [A.D. 1697.
Eetuming, therefore, by our former stages without any
notable alteration or occurrence, we came in eight days to the
Honey Khan, at which place we found many of our Aleppine
friends, who, having heard of our drawing homeward, were
come out to meet us and welcome us home. Having dined
together, and congratulated each other upon our happy re-
union, we went onward the same evening to Aleppo.
Thus, by God s infinite mercy and protection, we were re-
stored all in safety to our respective habitations. And here,
before I conclude, I cannot but take notice of one thing
more, which I should earnestly recommend to the devout
and grateful remembrance of every person engaged in this pil-
grimage, viz., that amongst so great a company as we were,
amidst such a multiplicity of dangers and casualties, such
variety of food, airs, and lodgings (very often none of the best),
there was no one of us that came to any ill accident through-
out our whole travels, and only one that fell sick by the con-
sequences of the journey after our return, which I esteem
the less diminution to so singular a mercy, in regard that,
amongst so many of my dear friends and fellow-travellers, it
fell to my own share to be the sufferer. A6|a Gs^.
Since the book was printed off, the two following letters, re-
lating to the same subject, were communicated by the Rev.
Mr. Osborn, Fellow of Exeter College ; to whom they were
sent by the author, in answer to some questions proposed
by him.
Sir,
I RECEIVED yours of June 27, 1698, and returned you an answer to it in
brief, about three months since, promising to supply what was then wanting at
some other opportunity, which promise I shall now make good. You de-
sired an account of the Turks, and of our way of living amongst them. As
to the former, it would fill a volume to write my whole thoughts about
them. I shall only tell you at present that I think they are very far from
agreeing with that character which is given of them in Christendom, espe-
cially for their exact justice, veracity, and other moral virtues, upon account
of which I have sometimes heard them mentioned with very extravagant
commendations, as though they far exceed Christian nations. But I must
profess myself of another opinion ; for the Christian religion, how much
soever we live below the true spirit and excellency of it, must still be
allowed to discover so much power upon the minds of its professors as to
raise them far above the level of a Turkish virtue. It is a maxim that I
have often heard from our merchants, that a Turk will always cheat when
A.D. 1698.] TURKISH MANNERS. 505
"he can find an opportunity. Friendship, generosity, and wit (in the English
notion), and delightful converse, and all the qualities of a refined and ingenuous
spirit, are perfect strangers to their minds, though in traffic and worldly nego-
tiations they are acute enough, and are able to carry the accounts of a large
commerce in their heads without the help of books, by a natural arithmetic,
improved by custom and necessity. Their religion is framed to keep up great
outv/ard gravity and solemnity, without begetting the least good tincture of
wisdom or virtue in the mind. You shall have them at their hours of
prayer, which are four a day always, addressing themselves to their devo-
tions with the most solemn and critical washings, always in the most public
places, where most people are passing, with most lowly and most regular
protestations, and a hollow tone, which are amongst them the great excel-
lencies of prayer. I have seen them, in an affected charity, give money to
bird-catchers (who make a trade of it), to restore the poor captives to their
natural liberty, and at the same time hold their own slaves in the heaviest
bondage ; and at other times they will buy flesh to relieve indigent dogs and
cats, and yet curse you with famine and pestilence, and all the most hideous
execrations, in which way these eastern nations have certainly the most ex-
quisite rhetoric of any people upon earth. They know hardly any pleasure
but that of the sixth sense. And yet with all this, they are incredibly
conceited of their own religion, and contemptuous of that of others, which I
take to be the great artifice of the devil, in order to keep them his own.
They are a perfect visible comment upon our blessed Lord's description of
the Jewish Pharisees. In a word, lust, arrogance, covetousness, and the most
exquisite hypocrisy, complete their character. The only thing that ever I could
observe to commend in them is the outward decency of their carriage, the
profound respect they pay to religion and to every thing relating to it, and
their great temperance and frugality. The dearness of any thing is no mo-
tive in Turkey, though it be in England, to bring it into fashion.
As for our living amongst them, it is with all possible quiet and safety;
and that is all we desire, their conversation being not in the least entertain-
ing. Our delights are among ourselves ; and here being more than forty
of us, we never want a most friendly and pleasant conversation. Our way
of life resembles in some measure the academical. We live in separate
squares, shut up every night after the manner of colleges. We begin the
day constantly, as you do, with prayers, and have our set times for business,
meals, and recreations. In the winter we hunt in the most delightful cham-
paign twice a week ; and in the summer go as often to divert ourselves un-
der our tents, with bowling and other exercises ; so that you see we want
not divertisements, and these all innocent and manly. In short, it is my
real opinion, that there is not a society out of England that for all good and
desirable qualities may be compared to this. But enough of this con-
fusion, which I would have shortened, and put in better order, if I had had
time.
March 10, 1698.
Sir,
As for your questions about Gehazi's posterity and the Greek excommunica-
tions, I have little to answer ; but yet, I hope, enough to give you and your
friend satisfaction. When I was in the Holy Land I saw several that
laboured under Gehazi's distemper, but none that could pretend to derive his
606 HENEY MAUNDEELL. [a.D. 1698.
pedigree from that person. Some of them were poor enough to be his rela-
tions ; particularly at Sichem (now Naplosu) there were no less than ten (the
same number that were cleansed by our Saviour not far from the same place)
that came begging to us at one time. Their manner is to come with small
buckets in their hands, to receive the alms of the charitable, their touch being
still held infectious, or at least unclean. The distemper, as I saw it in them,
was very different from what I have seen it in England ; for it not only
defiles the whole surface of the body with a foul scurf, but also deforms the
joints of the body, particularly those of the wrists and ankles, making them
swell with a gouty, scrofulous substance, very loathsome to look upon. I
thought their legs resembled those of old, battered horses, such as are often
seen in drays in England. The whole distemper, indeed, as it there appeared,
was so noisome that it might well pass for the utmost corruption of the human
body on this side the grave ; and certainly the inspired penmen could not
have found out a fitter emblem whereby to express the uncleanness and
odiousness of vice. But to return to Gehazi, it is no wonder if the descent
from him be by time obscured, seeing the best of the Jews, at this time of
day, are at a loss to make out their genealogies. But, besides, I see no
necessity in Scripture for his line being perpetuated. The term ^"for ever"
is, you know, often taken in a limited sense in holy writ, of which the
designation of Phineas's family to the priesthood * may serve for an instance.
His posterity was, you know, cut entirely off from the priesthood, and that
transferred to Eli (who was one of another line) about three hundred years
after.
I have inquired of a Greek priest, a man not destitute either of sense or
probity, about your other question. He positively affirmed it, and produced
an instance of his own knowledge in confirmation of it. He said that, about
fifteen years ago, a certain Greek departed this life without absolution, being
under the guilt of a crime which involved him in the sentence of excommuni-
cation, but unknown to the church. He had Christian burial given him ;
and, about ten years after, a son of his dying, they had occasion to open the
ground near where his body was laid, in order to bury his son by him, by
which means they discovered his body as entire as when it was first laid in
the grave. The shroud was rotted away, and the body naked and black, but
perfectly sound. Report of this being brought to the bishop, he immediately
suspected the cause of it, and sent several priests (of whom the relator was
one) to pray for the soul of the departed, and to absolve him at his grave ;
which they had no sooner done, but (as the relator goes on) the body in-
stantly dissolved and fell into dust, like slacked lime ; and so, well satisfied
with the effect of their absolution, they departed. This was delivered to me
ve7'bo sacerdotis. The man had hard fortune not to die in the Romish com-
munion ; for then his body being found so entire would have entitled him to
saintship ; for the Romanists, as I have both heard and seen, are wont to find
out and maintain the relics of saints by this token ; and the same sign which
proves an anathema maranaiha amongst the Greeks, demonstrates a saint
amongst the Papists. Perhaps both are equally in the right.
A;pril 12, 1700.
* Numbers, xxv. 13.
507
ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR'S JOURNEY
ALEPPO TO THE RIVER EUPHRATES, THE
CITY BEER, AND TO MESOPOTAMIA.
We set out from Aleppo, April ITth, 1699, and steering east-
north-east, somewhat less, we came in three hours and a half to
Surbass.
April 18. — We came in three hours and a half to Bezay,
passing by Bab, where is a good aqueduct, Dyn il Daab"^, to
which you descend by about thirty steps ; and Lediff, a pleasant
village. Our course thus far was east and by north. In the
afternoon we advanced three hours further, course north-east, to
an old ruined place, formerly of some consideration, called Acamy.
It is situated in the wilderness, on a hill encompassed by a valley ;
it was large, and had the footsteps of some symmetry, good walls
and buildings.
April 19. — We went east and by north, and in four hours
arrived at Bambych. This place has no remnants of its ancient
greatness f but its walls, which may be traced all round, and
cannot be less than three miles in compass. Several fragments of
them remain on the east side, especially at the east gate ; and
another piece of eighty yards long, with towers of large square
stone extremely well built. On the north side I found a stone
with the busts of a man and woman, large as the life ; and, under,
two eagles carved on it. Not far from it, on the side of a large
well, was fixed a stone with three figures carved on it, in basso
relievo. They were two syrens, which, twining their fishy tails
together, made a seat, on which was placed, sitting, a naked woman,
her arms and the syrens' on each side mutually entwined.
On the west side is a deep pit of about one hundred yards
diameter. It was low, and had no water in it, and seemed to have
had great buildings all round it, with the pillars and ruins of
which it is now in part filled up, but not so much but that there
was still water in it. Here are a multitude of subterraneous
aqueducts brought to this city, the people attested no fewer than
fifty. You can ride nowhere about the city without seeing them.
* The district of Daab. So the note in the original edition, but query
if not Ain-el-Dab, that is, the fountain of Dab.
f It was the ancient Hierapolis.
508 HENRY MAUNDEELL. [a.D. 1699.
We pitched by one about a quarter of a mile east of the city,
which yields a fine stream, and, emptying itself into a valley,
waters it, and makes it extremely fruitful. Here perhaps were
the pastures of the beasts designed for sacrifices. Here are now
only a few poor inhabitants, though anciently all the north side
was well inhabited by Saracens, as may be seen by the remains of
a noble mosque and a bagnio, a little without the walls. We were
here visited by a company of Begdelies, who were encamped some
hours further towards Euphrates, having about a thousand
horse there.
April 20. — For avoiding the Begdelies we hired a guide, who
conducted us a by-way. We travelled north-north-east, over a
desert ground, and came in three hours to a small rivulet called
Sejour (Sajur), which falls into the Euphrates about three hours
below Jerabolus. In about two hours more we came to a fine
fruitful plain, covered with extraordinary corn, lying between the
hills and the river Euphrates. In about an hour and a half's
travelling through this plain on the banks of the river, we came
to Jerabolus. This place is of a semicircular figure. Its flat side
lying on the banks of Euphrates, on that side it has a high long
mount, close by the water, very steep. It was anciently built
upon (and at one end of it I saw fragments of) very large pillars,
a yard and a half diameter, and capitals and cornices well carved.
At the foot of the mount was carved on a large stone a beast
resembling a lion, with a bridle in his mouth, and I believe an-
ciently a person sitting on it, but the stone is in that part now
broke away ; the tail of the beast was couped*.
Round about this place are high banks cast up, and there is the
traces of walls on them. The gates seem to have been well built.
The whole was two thousand two hundred and fifty paces, that is,
yards, in circumference. The river is here as large as the Thames
in London ; a long bullet-gun could not shoot a ball over it, but
it dropped into the water. Here is found a large serpent, which
has legs and claws, called Worallaf. I was told by a Turk that
a little below this place, when the river is low, may be seen the
ruins of a stone bridge over the river ; for my own part I saw it
not, nor do I much rely on the Turk's veracity. The river seemed
to be lately fallen very suddenly, for the banks were freshly wet
two yards and more above the water. It was here north and
south.
April 21. — We kept close on the banks of the Euphrates, and in
two hours and a half crossed a fine rivulet called Towzad ; and
in two hours more arrived over against Beer (Bir, or Birijik), and
* This figure was found on the same spot, but in a more mutilated con-
dition, by the Euphrates Expedition.
+ The Monitor; the same animal mentioned by La Brocquiere. See
p. 290.
A.D. 1699.] CASTLE OF DEER. 509
pitched on a flat, close by the river side. Observing the latitude
of the place by my quadrant, I found the angle between the suu
and the zenith to be twenty-two degrees; and the declination
this day being fifteen degrees ten minutes, the whole is thirty-
seven degrees ten minutes.
April 22. — We continued at our station, not daring to cross the
river for fear of falling into the hands of the Kaiyah of the Pasha
of Urfa, who was then at Beer, ordering many boats of corn down
to Bagdal. We were supplied in the same time with provisions by
Sheikh Assyne, to whom we made returns.
Sunday, April 23. — The Kaiyah being now departed. Sheikh
Assyne invited us over to Beer ; we crossed in a boat of the
country, of which they have a great many, this being the great
pass into Mesopotamia. The boats are of a miserable fabric, flat
and open in the fore part for horses to enter ; they are large
enough to carry about four horses each. Their way to cross is
by drawing up the boat as high as they know to be necessary ;
and then with wretched oars striking over, she falls a good way
down by the force of the stream before they arrive at the further
side.
Having saluted Assyne, we were conducted to see the castle,
which is a large old building on the top of a great long rock,
separated by a great gulf, or natural bottom, from the land. At
first coming within the gates, which are of iron, we saw several
large globes of stone, about twenty inches diameter ; and great
axles of iron, with wheels, which were entire blocks of wood two
feet thick in the nave, and cut somewhat to an edge toward the
periphery ; and screws to bend bows or engines ; as also several
brass field pieces.
Ascending up the sides of the rock by a way cut obliquely, you
come to the castle. At first entrance, you find a way cut under
ground down to the river. In the castle, the principal things we
saw were, first, a large room full of old arms ; I saw there glass
bottles to be shot at the end of arrows ; one of them was stuck at
the end of an arrow, with four pieces of tin by its sides, to keep it
firm. Yast large cross-bows and beams, seemingly designed for
battering-rams; and Roman saddles and head-pieces of a large
size, some of which were painted ; and some large thongs for bow-
strings, and bags for slinging stones. But the jealousy of the
Turks would not permit us to stay so long as would have been
requisite for a perfect examination of these antiquities.
From the castle we returned to Assyne, and were civilly treated.
In the evening we went up into the country of Mesopotamia.
The hills are chalky and steep, and come close to the water side
without a plain intervening, as it is upon the side of Syria ; so
that Beer stands on the side of a hill. However, it has a couple
of fine streams that run over the top of the hill, one of which
drives two mills, and so runs down to the city, which is well walled.
610 HENRY MAUNDRELL. [a.D. 1699.
In the side of the hill there is a khan under ground cut into the
rock, with fifteen large pillars left to support its roof.
April 24. — We left Beer, and, travelling west, came in three
hours to Mzib, a place well situated at the head of the Towzad.
Here is an old small church, very strong and entire, only the
cupola in the middle of the cross is broken down, and its space
covered with leaves, to fit the place of a mosque. I believe the
Turks made the places to which they turn in prayers empty
niches, to show that they worshipped one invisible God, not to be
represented by images. In two hours we came from Mzib to a
Christian village called Uwur; and in an hour and a half more to
» a well in the desert.
April 25. — We travelled west near two hours, and came through
a fine country diversified into small hills and valleys, to a village
called Adjia, having left Silam and two other villages on the right
hand. At Adjia rises the river of Aleppo, from a large fountain,
at once ; and just above it runs the Sejour, which might be let
into it by a short cut of ten yards. From Adjia our course was
west-north-west. The banks of the Sejour are well planted with
trees and villages. In two little hours we came to Antab (Ain-tab),
having crossed the Sejour at a bridge about three quarters of an
hour before. Leaving the city on the right hand, we passed under
its walls, and pitched about three quarters of an hour from it, on
a plain field on the banks of the Sejour.
Antab stands mostly on a hill, having a castle on a round
mount at its north side, exactly resembling that of Aleppo, though
much less. It has a very deep ditch round it ; and at the foot of
the mount, within the ditch, is a gallery cut through the rock all
round the castle, with portals for shot ; and it is faced with stone
walls where the rock was not strong enough. The houses have
generally no upper rooms ; the bazaars are large. I saw here a
fine stone, very much resembling porphyry, being of a red ground,
with yellow specks and veins, very glossy. It is dug just by
Antab.
Antab is doubtless Antiochia penes Taurum, in the skirts of
which it stands ; and is not far distant from the highest ridge.
It is about two thirds as big as Aleppo.
April 26. — We passed through a fruitful, mountainous country,
and came in seven hours and a quarter to Rowant Castle. It
stands on the top of a round, steep hill, and has been strong for
the times it was built in. It is probably a Saracen fabric, and is
now in ruins. At the foot of the hill, westward, runs the river
Ephreen : its course is south-south-west. Our course from Antab
to Rowant was north-west and by north.
April 27. — We continued travelling through the mountains,
which were now somewhat more uneven and precipitous, but
watered every where with fine springs and rivulets. In about six
hours we came to Corns. Our course was south-west, having
A.D. 1699.] CORUS. 511
crossed the Ephreen about two-thirds of an hour before. Just by
Corus is the river Sabon, that is Chor or Char, which encompasses
most part of the city.
Corus stands on a hill, consisting of the city and castle. The
city stands northerly ; and from its north end, ascending, you
come at last to a higher hill to the southward, on which stands
the castle. The whole is now in ruins, which seems to have been
very large, walled very strongly with huge square stones. Within
are observable the ruins, pillars, &c., of many noble buildings. On
the west side there is a square inclosure of great capacity, com-
passed with good walls and five gates, which admitted into it, as
one may discern by the ruins of them. I conjectured they might
be the cathedral. Over the castle gate were written three inscrip-
tions, the middle inscription being over the middle of the portal,
the other two on the top of the pilasters on the right and left-hand.
Below the castle hill, to the southward, stands a noble old monu-
ment. It is six square, and opens at six windows above, and is
covered with a pyramidical cupola. In each angle within is a
pillar of the Corinthian order, of one stone ; and there is a fine
architrave all round just under the cupola, having had heads of
oxen carved on it. And it ends a top with a large capital of the
Corinthian order. Near this are several sepulchral altars, of which
only one has a legible inscription.
April 28. — We left Corus ; and without the town, about half a
mile south-east, we descended through a way cut obliquely on the
side of a precipice, which leads to a bridge of seven arches, of a very
old structure, over the river Sabon ; and about a quarter of a mile
further we came to another bridge of three very large arches, over
the river Ephreen. These bridges are very ancient, and well built
of square stone. Three pillars have an acute angle on the side
against the stream, and a round buttress on the other side ; and
on both sides are niches for statues. They were well paved on the
top with large stones ; and are doubtless, as well as that on the
other side of the town, the work of the excellent and magnificent
Theodorit"^.
From this bridge, in about three hours, with a course south-
south-east, or south-east and by south, we arrived at Fan-Bolads.
From Fan-Bolads to Chillis is one hour and two-thirds, course
north-north-east. Chillis is a large, populous town, and has fifteen
mosques that may be counted without the town ; and it has large
bazaars. Many medals are found here, which seem to argue it to
be ancient ; but under what name I know not.
Aleppo bears from Fan-Bolads south and by east ; Seck-Berukel
south-south-west. An hour from Fan-Bolads is Azass ; and two
* Few European travellers, either before or since Maundrell's time, have
visited the ruins of Cyrrhus in Cyrrhestica, above described ; a circumstance
which gives especial interest to Maundrell's account of them.
512 HENRY MAUNDKELL. [a.D. 1699.
hours further we lodged in the plain, which, about Chillis and
Azass, is very wide and no less fruitful. This country is always
given to the Yalidea, or Grand Signer's mother.
April 28. — We arrived, by God's blessing, safe in Aleppo, having
travelled about five hours with a course south and by east.
OF THE VALLEY OF SALT,
WHICH IS ABOUT FOUR HOURS FROM ALEPPO.
This valley is of two or three hours extent. We were three
quarters of an hour in crossing one corner of it. It is of an exact
level, and appears at a distance like a lake of water. There is a
kind of dry crust of salt all over the top of it, which sounds, when
the horses go upon it, like frozen snow when it is walked upon.
There are three or four small rivulets which empty themselves
into this place, and wash it all over, about autumn, or when the
rains fall.
In the heat of the summer the water is dried off ; and, when the
sun has scorched the ground, there is found remaining the crust
of salt aforesaid, which they gather and separate into several
heaps, according to the degrees of fineness, some being exquisitely
white, others alloyed with dirt. It being soft in some places, our
horses' hoofs struck in deep ; and there I found, in one part, a
soft, brown clay ; in another a very black one ; which to the taste
was very salt, though deep in the earth. Along, on one side of the
valley, viz. that towards Gibul, there is a small precipice, about
two men's lengths, occasioned by the continual taking away the
salt ; and in this you may see how the veins of it lie. I broke a
piece of it, of which that part of it that was exposed to the rain,
sun, and air, though it had the sparks and particles of salt, yet it
had perfectly lost its savour, as in St. Matthew, chap. v. The
inner part, which was connected to the rock, retained its savour,
as I found by proof.
In several places of the valley we found that the thin crust of
salt upon the surface bulged up, as if some insect working under
it had raised it ; and, taking off the part, we found under it efflo-
rescences of pure salt, shot out according to its proper figure.
At the neighbouring village of Gibul are kept the magazines of
salt, where you find great mountains, as I may say, of that mineral
ready for sale. The valley is farmed of the Grand Signor at twelve
hundred dollars per annum.
INDEX.
Abchaz, 257.
Abydos, 73.
Abyssinia, 120, 1 3.
Abzor, 258.
Acamy, 507.
Accaron, 46.
Achanay, 328.
Achelous, 71.
Achsaray, 328.
Acre, 56, 80, 142, 193, 298,
426.
Aden, 117.
Adena, 317.
Adjia, 510.
Adrianople, 130, 343.
Adriatic Sea, 34, 155.
^gean Sea, 34.
Africa, 123, 149.
Ager Damascenus, 490.
Agios Georgios, 50.
Ailah, 123.
Ain-il-Hadede, 500.
Ain-il-Hawra, 495.
Ain Japhata, 102.
Ajalon, 82.
Akbara, 94.
Al-Boutidg, 121.
Al-Kotsonaath, 102.
Al-Zahara, 118.
Alamo, 258.
Albane, 192.
Albania, 201.
Albans, St., 129.
Aldama, 179.
Aleppo, 92, 144, 275, 384.
Alexandria, 11, 24, 64, 122,
150, 257.
Algarve (Portugal), 64, 123.
Alkassi, o3.
Alma, 89.
Alothe, 150.
Alsodo, 126.
Amalfi, 69, 123.
Amana, 90.
Amaria, 106.
Amazonia, 129, 201.
Amiens, 182.
Amorgo, 33.
Anatolica, 7I.
Ancho, 33.
Andalusia, 123.
Andernach, 125.
Andros, 32.
Anjou, 123.
Antab (Ain-tab), 510.
Antioch, 78, 313.
Antioch, Little, 49, 192.
Appennines, 284.
Apulia, 56, 70, 123, 155.
Arab, 431..
Arabia, 45, 96, 123, 145,
201, 275.
Araclie (Eregli), 320.
Ararat, 93, 99, 203.
Arbil, 94.
Archae, 14.
Argyte, 275.
Aries, 66.
Armenia, 77» 99, 188, 257.
Armiro, 72.
Arnon, 90.
Arragon, 123.
Arteyse, 192.
Arthadoe, 192.
Artyroun (Erzeroun),203.
Asacs, 314.
Ascalon, 87, 143, 165.
Asers, 320.
Ashmum, 121.
Assuan, 11 7.
Astrausburg, 125.
Athens, 156.
Athos, 134.
Auxonne, 381.
Axinarri, 24.
Aygnes, 182.
Ayn Tentloe, 484.
Ayta, 484.
Azass, 511.
Baalbec, 91.
Bab, 507.
Babylon, 74, 100, 144, 191.
Bactria, 201.
Bagdad, 74, 95.
Balanea, 397-
Balbeck, 307, 496.
Baldak, 149.
Bales, 92.
Bamberg, 125.
Bambych, 507.
Baneas, 397.
Barcelona, 63.
Bardin, 125.
Bari, 23, 31.
Barlo(Barletta?), 31.
Barrady, 484.
Barseba, 432.
Baruth, 48, 293.
Bashan, 187.
Basil, 380.
Bassora, 104.
Bavaria, 61.
Bavento, 70.
Beaucaire, 65.
Bedame, 387.
Beer, 436, 508.
Beirout, 414.
Beith Nubi, 87-
Beit Jaberim, 87.
Belethe, 144.
Belgrade, 360.
Belgrave, 130.
Belinas, 89.
Bellulca, 389.
Bell-Maez, 386.
Belou, 143.
Beneventum, 13,23.
Beruthe, 142, 191.
Besack, 398.
Besanpon, 381.
Bethany, 6, 28, 44, 177,
449.
Bethe, 205.
Bethlehem, 6, 19, 29, 44, 85
162, 455.
Bethphage, 44, 177-
Bethsaida, 16, 46.
Beurquerel, 370.
Beyrut, 79.
Bezay, 507-
Beziers, 64.
Bingeu, 125.
Bir Ibrahim-al-Khalul, 88.
Bissina, 72.
Bocat, 483.
Bohemia, 126.
Bologna la Grassa, 284.
Botron, 149.
Bourchaze, 379.
Bourges, 130.
Boycurra, 257.
Bragman, 273.
Brandia, 32.
Brindisi, 70, 155.
Brique, 259.
Brut, 374.
Bucharia, 260.
Buda, 370.
Budia, 74.
Bulgaria, 61, 130, 357.
Burgundy, 123, 155, 284.
Bursa, 331.
Caesarea, 5, 46.
Caffolos, 226.
Cairo, 149.
Cajeta, 13.
Calabria, 13, 22, 70, 124, 142,
155.
Calamy, 215.
Calcas, 134.
Caldillie, 260.
Calimno, 33.
Callemone, 409.
Callipolis, 50.
Calliste, 134.
Calonak, 224.
Calvary, 440.
Camaaleche, 247.
Cambre, 192.
Campania, 155.
Cana, 47, 184, 481.
Canobine, 500.
Cansay, 230.
Capernaum, 9, 16, 43, 183.
L L
514
INDEX.
Caphar Milki, 483
Caphon, 257.
Cappadocia, 192, 259.
Capua, 68.
Caranus, 397-
Carassar, 329.
Carea, 33.
Cariyatin, 92.
Carmel, 142.
Carpate, 134.
Carthage, 149.
Caspia, 260.
Caspian Sea, 201, 256.
Cassak, 205.
Cassauburgh, 125.
Castile, 63.
Castravan, 412.
Catalonia, 123.
Catania, 13, 22, 124.
Cathay, 233.
Caumlssiu, 344.
Cay don, 233.
Caypha, 430.
Cayphas, 46.
Cedron,41, 471.
Cenis, 284.
Cephalonia, 32.
Cetige, 134.
Ceuta, 66.
Chabocas, 101.
Chaibar, 104.
Chaldea, 129, 149, 201,258.
Chalnah, 118.
Champagne, 284
Chana,211.
Chapton, 106.
Chardabago, 205.
Chartres, 169.
Chienetout, 137.
Chilenfo, 231.
Chillis, 511.
Chio, 77.
Chiosa, 285.
Chorazin, 16, 183.
Chotaz, 256.
Christopoli, 73.
Cilieia, 11, 188.
Cinga, 436.
Citte Galle, 389.
Climax, 412.
Coblenee, 125.
Colos, 138.
Comania, 130, 256.
Combar, 213.
Constance, 380.
Constantinople, 11, 59, 74,
131,336.
Corfu, 32, 70, 286.
Corinth, 32, 71.
Cornaa, 205,
Cornagne, 134.
Corozaim, 46.
Corsebech, 357.
Corns, 511.
Corycus, 77.
Cotthay, 329.
Couhongue, 327.
Cracow, 193.
Crete, 33, 122, 137.
Crissa, 71.
Crusia, 388.
Cublech, 319.
Curco, 319.
Cuth, 110.
Cynople, 192.
Cypron, 130.
Cyprus, 14, 34, 58, 77. 122,
140, 191.
Cyropolis, 184.
Dabaristan, 109.
Daberah, 479.
Dalay, 231.
Damas, 193.
Damascus, 10, 16, 90, 142,
187, 190, 293, 485.
Damer, 414.
Damietta, 25, 121.
Damiette, New, 151.
Damira, 121.
Danube, 130, 370.
Darestan, 193.
Dark, 191.
Daterina, 13.
Dead Sea, 453.
Deemeseer, 151.
Deluze, 181.
Demass, 484.
Dengadda, 179.
Denmark, 123.
Demetica, 343.
Dhuchia, 77.
Diarbekh, 99.
Didymi, 22.
Dijou, 381.
Dondum, 228.
Dothan, 181, 480.
Douk, 192.
Drama, 73.
Duidisburg, 125.
Duras, 156.
Dymodique, 343.
Dyn il Daab, 507.
Ebal, 81,432.
Ebro, 63.
Eden, 501.
Edessa, 215.
Egypt, 13, 64, 74, 120, 145,
150.
El-Jubar, 103.
El-Katif, 114.
El-Khabur, 93.
Elah, 460.
Elephantina, 11.
Eleutherus, 403.
Elim, 156.
Emessa, 14, 20.
Emmaus, 175.
Ems, 379.
Endor, 479.
England, 51, 64, 123.
Eno, 344.
Ens, 379.
Enydra, 397.
Ephesus, 13, 33, 138.
Ephraim, 81, 181.
Ephreen, 511.
Erfurt, 379.
Ernax. 192.
Escalache, 358.
Esdraelon, 430, 476.
Essoyn (Es-am), 385.
Ethille, 256.
Ethiopia, 129, 150, 201, 259.
Etna, 13, 155.
Euphrates, 92, 149, 201, 259,
277, 508.
Evresperch, 379.
Famagosta, 191.
Fan-Bolads, 511.
Faramea, 26.
Fayulun, 118.
Feme, 192.
Fiascone, 284.
Figila, 13.
Finica, 34.
Fladrine, 213.
Flanders, 123.
Flaxon, 134.
Florence, 284.
Formentara, 54.
France, 64, 123, 155.
Franche Compte, 381.
Fynepasse, 130.
Gabala, 399.
Galgala, 17.
Galgalis, 7.
Galicia, 51.
Galilee, 43, 177, 183.
Galilee, Sea of, 8, 43, 46,
186.
Gallipoli, 76.
Ganali, 118.
Gardiki, 72.
Gargaus, 23.
Gascony, 123.
Gasserie, 326.
Gaydo, 247.
Gaza, 19, 26, 143, 289.
Geeb, 436.
Gemethe, 259.
Gennesareth, Sea of, 9, 187.
Genoa, 64, 123, 155, 201.
Georgia, 189, 2.^8.
Gerizim,81, 181,432.
Germany, 123, 193.
Gerona, 64.
Gerrasentz, 187.
Gethsemane, 28> 41, 176,
471.
Ghent, 284.
Gibel, 48.
Gibeon, 181.
Gibyle, 410.
Gihiagin, 100.
Gilboa, 48, 82, 180, 479-
Gingalah, II7.
Gish, 89.
Golbache, 263.
Gomorrah, I79.
Goshen, 121, 150.
Gosre, 205.
Gozan, 110.
Gran, David, 82.
Greece, 64, 130.
Gryffle, 191.
Gymnosophe, 274.
Har Gaash, 64.
Habor, 110.
Hadjar-il-Sultan, 388.
Hainault, 123.
Halah, 110.
INDEX.
515
Hamadan, 109.
Hamah, 78, 92.
Hamos, o08.
Haran, 93, 149.
Hardah, 94.
Hay, 180.
Hebron, 6, 45, 86, 160.
Heidaby, 61.
Heliopolis, 151.
Hellespont, 134.
Harbauoose ('Arbauus),
386.
Hendon, 184.
Hermes, 210, 263.
Hermon, 80, 90, 186, 430,
479.
Hillah, 100.
Hinnom, 468.
Hircania, 201.
Holwan, 106.
Honey-khan, 384.
Hosta, 32.
Ho war, 436.
Hozano, 385.
Hungary, 61, 74, 130.
Ibelin, 87-
Iberia, 201.
Ibrahim Pasha, 411.
Idumea, 149.
India, 99, 123, 129, 190,
207, 257.
Ispahan, 109.
Ivitsa (Ivica), 55.
Jabbok, 180.
Jacob's Well, 435.
Jabustrisa, 72.
Jaffa, 87, 142, 165, 191,
286.
Jamchy, 232.
Janiz, 374.
Java, 223.
Jebail, 79.
Jebilee, 78, 393.
Jehon, 316.
Jehoshaphat, 4, 18, 28, 41,
84, 175, 448.
Jelaad,91.
Jerabolus, 508.
Jericho, 7, I7, 45, 165, 177,
450.
Jerusalem, 1, 10, 26, 36, 57,
83, 164, 275, 287, 439.
Jezireh, Ben Omar, 93.
Jezireh, Omar Ben al-Kha-
tab, 94.
Jib Jeneen, 484.
Jobar, 397.
Jong, 247.
Joppa, 10, 34, 45, 47.
Jordan, 7, 16, 45, 47, 88,
178, 451.
Juba, 94.
Jubelet, 48.
Jutland, 62.
Kadmus, 78.
Kaflre, 385.
Kaiffa, 81.
Kakun, 81.
Kala, Jiaber, 92.
Kales (Kilia), 77.
Karemen, 258.
Karkisia, 94.
Kama, 179.
Kartania, 125.
Kaub, 125.
Kedar, 183.
Kedron, 84.
Kefteen, 385.
Khandy, 115.
Khan, Leban, 436, 475.
Khaziru, 110.
Khephar, Thau chum, 81.
Khorassan, 98.
Khulan, II7.
Khuristan, 105, 113.
Kiev, 126.
Kish, 113.
Kishon, 81, 184, 430, 479.
Kizil, Ozein, 93, 109, 110.
Kufa, 102.
Kush, 118.
Kuts, 118.
Lamary, 218.
Lamatoun, 191.
Lamdiu, 92.
Lango, i38.
Lanteryne, 232.
Larande, 321.
Latorvn, 229.
Latuche, 192.
Lauft'embourg, 380.
Layays (Lajazzo), 202.
Laye, 192.
Lebanon, 78, 501.
Lediff, 507.
Lega, 78.
Lega, River, 102.
Legene, 385.
Legune, 430.
Lemne, 134.
Lenguo, 334.
Lepanto, 71.
Lero, 33.
Letane, 483.
Letto (Lithuania), 193.
L^ve, 320.
Libanus, 8, 20, 47, 180, 483,
500.
Lice, 48.
Lido, 33.
Limone, 499.
Lintz, 379.
Lisbon, 52.
Lomb, 213.
Lombardy, 64, 74, 123, 130,
155.
Lucca, 66, 125.
Lunel, 64.
Lybia, 129, 201, 259.
Lyson, 259.
Maatum, 11 7.
Mabaron, 215.
Macedonia, 49, 135.
Machpelah, 86.
Maday, 495.
Magdalum, 16.
Mageddo, 184.
Mahaleh, 121.
Makloub, 78.
Malla, 25.
Mallebrynez, 192.
Malmistras, 77.
Mamre, Plain of, 7.
Mamre, Valley of, 180.
Mantern, 125.
Marago, 259.
Marathus, 397.
Mareotis, 10.
Maritaine, 165.
Mariza, 343.
Marou, 180.
Marrok, River, 130.
Marrok, 149.
Marseilles, 66.
Martof, 380.
Maryoche, 192.
Masara, 124.
Mathe, 145.
Maubeke, 193.
Maure Sea, 256.
Maurienne, 125.
Mauritania, 150, 207, 259.
Mecca, 302.
Mechon (Mecca), 148.
Media, 74, 93, 96, 106, 145,
201 , 257.
Mediana, 123.
Medina, 302.
Mediterranean Sea, 66,
20J.
Melfi, 70.
Melitena, 14.
Melo, 134.
Memingen, 380.
Menke, 232.
Merakia, 398.
Merchah, 397.
Meroon, 89.
Mersbourg, 3B0.
Meshgarah, 483.
Mesopotamia, 74, 93, 98,
149, 201.
Messabor, 257.
Messina, 124.
Meteline, 33, 49, 77.
Miconi, 33.
Milsterak, 266.
Mindelheim, 380.
Minorca, 55.
Misse, 316.
Misterio, 343.
Mistorak, 268.
Mistrau, 125.
Mitrizzi, 73.
Mizraim, 118, 121, 123.
Modeyn, 192.
Modon, 286.
Molke, 378.
Monopoli, 31, 34.
Montbeliart,381.
Morava, 357.
Moriah, 472.
Moroehe, 191.
Moselle (Mosul), 94,259
Moselle, River, 125.
Mouldrof, .379.
Mukattua, 81.
Mulehet, 106.
Munich, 380.
Murano, 285.
Mynea, 134.
LL 2
616
INDEX.
Myra, 33, 137.
Myrock, 156.
Nablous, 81.
Nacumera, 226.
Nahr Hussain, 398.
Nahr-Aborsh, 403.
Nahr-Acchar, 403.
Nahr-el-Kibber, 403.
Nahr-il-Melech, 396.
Nain, 183, 479.
Napacha, 101.
Naples, 22, 69, 155.
Naplosa, 432, 475.
Narbonne, 64.
Navarre, 63, 123.
Naxia, 33.
Nazareth, 9, 43, 46, 181,
184, 298. 477.
Neapolis (Sichem), 46.
Neaseborough, 130.
Nebo, 84.
Nebule, 13.
Negropont, 71.
Nice, 22, 137, 192.
Nicodem , 360.
Nigropont, 32.
Nikpha, 117.
Nile, 24, 117, 149, 201.
Nineveh, 94, 206, 259.
Nisapour, 110.
Nishapur, 106.
Nisibin, 93.
Nissa, 357.
Nissave, 356.
Nizib, 510.
Nogres, 65.
Norfa Sound, 53.
Normandy, 123.
Norway. 50.
Nubia. 123, 150, 259.
Nyflan, 130, 193.
Nyse, 262.
Oceaby (Akabi), 389.
Octaror, 256.
Olivet, Mount, 4, 19, 28
42, 84, 176, 448, 470.
Olvmpus, 135.
Oo'-rem (Ur-im) 385.
Grille, 275.
Orkney Isles, 51.
Orontes, 387-
Orthosia, 403.
Otranto, 31 , 70.
Oxidrate, 274.
Oxus, 99, 110.
Paffus (Baffo), 34.
Palermo, 124.
Palestine, 64, 74, 165,
201, 275.
Palmis, 87.
Paltus, 397.
Paniados, 50.
Pannonia, 61.
Pantaleone, 124.
Papho, 14.
Paris, 126, 169.
Parnassus, 71.
Parpar, 90.
Patera, 33, 137.
Pathau, 223.
Pathmos, 33.
Patmos, 137.
Patras, 32.
Patrone, 410.
Patzinakia, 74.
Pensey, 370.
Pentexoire, 262.
Pera, 335.
Peritoq, 344.
Persia, 74, 94, 96, 129,
190, 201, 257.
Pesipua, 87.
Pest, 371.
Petalion, 32.
Pharan, 180.
Pharsipee, 202.
Phemius, St., 40.
Pheune, 192.
Philopopoli, 355.
Phoenicia, 180, 201.
Piacenza, 284.
Picardy, 284.
Piedmont, 284.
Pisa, 64, 66, 515.
Pisingas, 125.
Pison, 257, 268.
Pithom, 118.
Po, 284.
Poictiers, 169.
Poitou, 123.
Pola, 286.
Prague, 126.
Preune, 379.
Provence, 65, 123.
Prussia, 193, 256
Ptolemais, 20.
Pulciano Monte, 284.
Pulveralle, 192.
Puzzuola, 68.
Pyncemartz, 130.
Pyneyward, 134.
Pytan, 259.
Quesiton, 259.
Qulougue, 322.
Raamses, 121.
Rabenica, 72.
Racca, 93.
Raclea, 50.
Rahatah, 94.
Rai, 111.
Rakuvia, 123.
Ramah, 181.
Ramatha, 165, 192.
Rameses, 150.
Ramla, 191.
Ramie, 291.
Rami eh, 89.
Ramoth, 191.
Ramula, 26.
Raphane, 191.
Rasel-ayn, 424.
Rashid, 121.
Ravensburg, 380.
Red Sea, 123, 151, 201.
Regensburg, 125.
Regia, 22.
Reiha, 93.
Rephaim, 455.
Rephidim, 123.
Resithe, 151.
Rhegia, 13.
Rhine, 125, 380.
Rhinfeld, 380.
Rhodes, 33, 49, 77, 140,
286.
Rhone, 65, 284.
Riet, 379.
Rimini, 285.
Rodosto, 74.
Roianz, 259.
Romania, 49, 192.
Rome, 66, 125, 155, 284.
Rooge, 386.
Rothostoca, 50.
Roussilon, 123.
Ruad, 399.
Rudbar, 106.
Russia, 74, 126, 130, 193,
256.
Sabatorye, 191.
Sabissocolle, 203.
Sabou, 511.
Sadouy, 204.
Saduz,247.
Saet, 58.
Saffre, 143.
Sahythe, 151.
Salerno, 69.
Salkhat, 91.
Salt, Valley of, 512.
Salubria, 343.
Salunki, 73.
Samaria, 8, 182, 300.
Samarkand, 106, 110.
Samarra, 105.
Samos, 33, 49, 77.
Samethe, 50.
Saragossa, 63.
Sarak, 256.
Sarache, 213.
Sardenare, 142.
Sardinia, 155.
Sarmassane, 257.
Sarphen, 142.
Sarras, 258.
Sathala, 259
Saure, 259.
Savila, 123.
Savoy, 284.
Sawee, 436.
Saxony, 123.
Schechem, 181.
Scio, 33, 49.
Sclavonia, 126, 130, 357.
Scutari, 334.
Scythia, 201.
Seba, 98.
Sebaste, 81.
Sebe, 476.
Sebenico, 286.
Sebid, 117.
Seboym, 179.
Seck-Berukel, 511.
Sefita, 121.
Segor, 179.
Seine, 126.
Sejour, 508.
Selwid, 436.
Seorergant, 257.
Sepharia, 481.
INDEX.
517
Sephira, 481.
Sephor, 185.
Serain, 87-
Serkland, 54.
Servia, 357.
Seyde, 292.
Shaffhousen, 380.
Shafjathib, 103.
Shat-el-Arab, 106.
Sheba, 103. 117.
Sherack, 432.
Shiloh, 87, 181.
Shiraz, 110.
Shittim, 84.
Shoggle (Jir Shogher)
38B.
Sholfatia, 390.
Shushan, 105.
Sichar, 181.
Sicily, 12, 22, 55, G4,
123, 142, 155.
Sidon, 20, 79, 142, 40S,
421,481.
Sikbia, 99.
Silam, 510.
Silha, 227.
Siloah, 42, 175.
Siloe, 469.
Sinai, 45, 123, 156, 191.
Smie, 495.
Sintre, 51.
Sion,4,43, 84.
Siponte, 31.
Sitinulh,25.
Sleswick, 61.
Smyrna, 33, 49.
Sodom, 179, 181.
Sophia, 356.
Spain, 64, 74, 123.
Spoleto, 284.
St. George, 81, 88.
St. Nicholas de Bari, 70.
Stagyra, 134.
Stein, 380.
Strobole, 14.
Stromlo, 49.
Suabia, 61.
Sufwrich, 18.
Sugarmago, 233.
Sumbor, 222.
Sunbat, 123.
Sur, New, 80, 297-
Sura, 102.
Surbass, 507*
Surgawich, 495.
Sydonaiia, 493.
Sylo, 137-
Symar, 259.
Syra, 32.
Syracuse, 22, 124.
Syria, 123, 145, 180, 201,
259, 275.
Tabor, 9, 16,43, 46,186,
298, 430, 479.
Tadmor, 91.
Taing, 379.
Tamnis, 25.
Taprobane, 275.
Taranto, 70.
Tarentum, 24.
Tarmegyte, 207.
Tarragona, 68.
Tartary, 12-9, 193, 275.
Tartusa, 48.
Taurizo, 257.
Tebnim, 89.
Telmas, 104.
Te-ne-reo, 386.
Tenit, 49.
Tennis, 123.
Tesbria, 134.
Thainy, 201.
Thalamartha, 21.
Thanaejno, 104
Thorratas, 14.
Tharse, 255.
Thauriso (Tabreez), 204.
Thebes, 32, 7I.
Theis, 370.
Thema, 103.
Theuca, 19.
Thiat, 374.
Thiras, 343.
Thrace, 130.
Thuro, 318.
Tiberias, Sea of, 8, 46,
180, 187, 300, 479.
Tiberias, 9, 16, 43, 46, 88,
187.
Tibet, 96, 106.
Tigris, 93, 113, 149, 201,
259, 277.
Tinos, 32.
Toron de los Caballeros,
87.
Tortosa, 63, 192, 398.
Towzad, 508.
Tracoda, 226,
Traconitis, 187.
Trajanopoly, 345.
Trani, 31, 70.
Trapani, 124.
Trebizond,20I.
Tripolis, 48, 145, 193, 399,
404, 500.
Troy, 49, 134.
Tudela, 63.
Turcopole, 134.
Turin, 284.
Turkestan, 255.
Turkey, 275.
Tuscany, 123.
Tyre, 10, 20, 142, 191,423.
Ulber, 260.
Ulwur, 510.
Ur, 206.
Urbino, 285.
Uzzi, 484.
Valentia, 123.
Valland, 51.
Valone, 156.
Valse, 379.
Venice, 142, 155, 201, 285.
Venice, Gulf of, 155.
Verchet, 370.
Veschut, 321.
Vienna, 375.
Viralo, 104.
Vyra, 346.
Waldshuts, 380.
Wallachia, 72, 357.
Walporch, 380.
Worms, 125.
Ximyra, 397.
Xindacopo, 33.
Yamgsbatsar, 344.
Yemen, 104, 123.
Ypsala, 343.
Ysvouriere, 356.
Zamby, 343.
Zara, 286.
Zavila, 118.
Zebulon, 481.
Zegedin, 370.
Zib,427.
Zinglantz, 213.
Zor, 125.
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